War Department Prepares to Protect Election From Foreign Interference

In less than five weeks, Americans will head to the polls for the U.S. midterm elections.

Every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and a third of U.S. Senate seats, some 470 contests in all, will be decided Nov. 3, and the War Department will help ensure foreign actors don't meddle in those elections.

"As we approach this election cycle, we must prove that we can and will protect the integrity of our democratic processes from any threat," said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. "In my role as secretary of war, the Department of War will effectively wield its capabilities to protect and uphold the reliability of America's voting mechanisms against external manipulation and disruption from foreign actors, while maintaining the fundamental freedoms that characterize our country."

In a memorandum published yesterday, Hegseth outlined the department's capabilities he activated to ensure the integrity of the upcoming election.

U.S. Cyber Command, along with agencies such as the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, will use their intelligence and cyber capabilities to ensure foreign actors do not interfere with the U.S. democratic process.

"U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency are closely partnered to identify and defend against cyber threats to our nation," said Army Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, Cybercom commander and National Security Agency director. "The command and the agency regularly counter actions by malicious foreign cyber actors, including those with the intent to interfere with our democratic process."

The secretary also directed the defense intelligence enterprise to collect information on foreign threats to U.S. elections, analyze it and produce useful guidance based on those findings. Finally, he directed Cybercom to work alongside the Department of Homeland Security to counter any potential cyber threats from foreign actors targeting U.S. elections.

"We have very important elections coming up. We want those elections to be honest," President Donald J. Trump told Americans during a July 16 address to the nation. "You can't have a great country without free and fair elections."

Hegseth said the War Department would play a critical role in ensuring that happens.

"Our nation's ability to conduct free and fair elections is a steadfast principle of our democracy. Assuring and protecting this ability is a no-fail mission and the DOW will do its part in supporting this whole-of-government effort," Hegseth said. "In America, the people rule, and we must ensure that their voice remains sovereign, secure and entirely undiluted."