Election Security
Federal drawdown of election support ‘destroyed’ ongoing relationships, experts say
A House hearing highlighted warnings from state officials and other experts who say the Trump administration’s dismantling of CISA’s election work damages trust and coordination before the 2026 midterms.
Trump’s goal to create state-by-state citizenship lists isn’t feasible, experts say
A Tuesday executive order mandating that DHS create state-by-state citizenship lists is Trump’s latest effort to exert some control over state-run elections.
Trump signs executive order setting rules for mail-in voting and eligibility lists
The president has long disputed the mail-in voting process since his 2020 election run. The order is very likely to face legal challenges.
Annual intelligence assessment doesn’t address foreign threats to US elections
In a hearing to discuss the assessment, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also offered mixed signals about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, with her written testimony differing from spoken remarks.
Gabbard’s expanded role in election security draws scrutiny
Since the start of the year, the White House chief of staff and DHS secretary have met multiple times to discuss election security, and DNI Tulsi Gabbard has been present in at least one of those meetings, according to a U.S. official.
Trump nominee to lead NSA commits to backing controversial spying law
Lt. Gen. Josh Rudd also promised to prioritize NSA efforts to protect U.S. elections.
CISA budget bill would require agency to maintain ‘sufficient’ staffing levels
The congressional justification diverges from steps taken last year to curb the agency’s workforce and election security footprint.
Defense authorization bill includes billions for cyber, intelligence matters
The NDAA notably deviates partly from President Donald Trump’s national security strategy, which seeks some distance between the U.S. and Europe. It also makes a sweeping regulatory harmonization demand.
DHS expanding citizenship system for voter verification, despite concerns about potential disenfranchisement
Twenty-six states are in line to use a revamped DHS system to check their voter rolls for non-citizens, although the network has raised concerns about privacy and accuracy — including if it could kick eligible voters off the rolls.
Senators call for election security briefing as major races draw closer
“We are concerned that you may have directed the Intelligence Community (IC) to cease its intelligence reporting on this vital topic,” the senators wrote to the director of national intelligence in a Monday letter.
Trump signs order targeting former CISA head Chris Krebs
Krebs previously led the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and contradicted baseless claims President Donald Trump made in 2020 that the election that year was rigged against him.
Democrats push Justice Department to keep Election Threats Task Force amid rollbacks
The task force was created to help protect election officials from stalking and threats, but its future remains in question after the Trump administration scrapped other election integrity initiatives.
Featured eBooks
What’s next for cybersecurity, election info sharing?
Federal funding has been slashed by $10 million for two information sharing centers, which both have tens of thousands of members. A more fragmented and expensive future could follow as states and others go it alone.
How much did AI really impact the election?
AI tools can produce realistic deepfakes and synthetic audio that influence public opinion.
CISA has no data supporting claims of election cheating, official says
Baseless voting fraud claims were pushed by Donald Trump in 2020 and the final weeks of his presidency.
Russian email domains sent uncredible bomb threats to polling places, FBI says
Kremlin-backed actors have a long record of sowing fear and disinformation into the U.S. election process.
CISA has not clocked any 'national-level significant incidents' impacting the election, official says
The agency is notably not in active contact with social media platforms but “if a threat were to arise that would necessitate us to do so, we would absolutely reach out,” Cait Conley said.
Chinese telecom breaches won’t sway election outcomes, CISA chief says
The top U.S. cyber defense agency has seen “no evidence of activity that has the potential to materially impact the outcome of the presidential election,” Jen Easterly said Monday.
Russia produced fake video of immigrant election fraud in Georgia, officials say
CISA is “very concerned” about the ways foreign adversaries might ramp up their efforts during the election certification period, one official said.
‘Every single American’ a target of election interference, former DHS official says
Adversaries have heavily accelerated efforts to sway the outcome of next week’s presidential election.
