Pete Hegseth signs directive to defend 2026 elections
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has signed a Sept. 22 memo directing U.S. Cyber Command and combat support agencies to deploy advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities against foreign interference in the 2026 midterm elections, the Pentagon said Monday, with coordination ordered with the Department of Homeland Security.
Key Takeaways
- Pete Hegseth authorized a Sept. 22 memorandum, released publicly Monday, aimed at stopping foreign meddling in U.S. democratic systems.
- U.S. Cyber Command and combat support agencies must prioritize tools to identify, disrupt, and neutralize foreign interference.
- The Defense Intelligence Enterprise is ordered to collect and produce intelligence on foreign election threats under existing law and policy.
- Cyber Command will work with the Department of Homeland Security on cyber threats to election infrastructure, about five weeks before the midterms.
What did Pete Hegseth order in the new memo?
According to the department's news release and reporting on the memo, Hegseth told Cyber Command and the directors of the combat support agencies to prioritize Department of War intelligence and cyber capabilities so foreign actors do not meddle in democratic systems.
The one-page directive also instructs the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to execute collection and production on foreign threats to U.S. elections in accordance with law, regulation, executive direction, and department policies.
A third prong tells Cyber Command to use existing authorities, in coordination with DHS, to counter potential cyber threats from foreign actors targeting the elections. Axios reported the memo has not previously been detailed in full and rests in part on a 2025 executive order on election integrity.
Why does the timing of this directive matter?
CNN reported the memo arrives roughly five weeks before the midterms. Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, who leads Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, said those organizations regularly counter malicious foreign cyber actors who intend to interfere with the democratic process.
Concerns had grown earlier in 2026 after Rudd told lawmakers in April he did not know whether a specialized Election Security Group had been stood up for the midterms. That team has helped NSA and Cyber Command share intelligence and counter foreign troll campaigns since the 2020 cycle.
It was not immediately clear what role, if any, that group will play under Hegseth's new order. Former Cyber Command official Andrew Schoka told CNN that late activation would limit impact on adversaries before Election Day.
How does this fit prior U.S. election cyber defenses?
CNN said the activities outlined largely mirror work U.S. military and spy agencies did to protect elections from foreign threats before Donald Trump returned to the presidency in 2025, including a 2024 Cyber Command operation against Russian trolls.
Axios noted a similar pre-2022 midterms push under the Biden administration directed Cyber Command and the NSA to disrupt foreign adversaries' ability to interfere with voting and vote counting. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said federal, state, and local officials are working "in lockstep" with Cyber Command and defense intelligence teams.
Election-security headlines can move markets and digital-asset sentiment; follow related coverage in our Fintech & Crypto Alerts hub. For the Pentagon's framing of the order, see CNN's report citing the department release.