Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is not playing games with America’s midterms.
A Sept. 22 memorandum directs U.S. Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the rest of the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to prioritize Department of War intelligence and cyber power against foreign actors trying to meddle in the 2026 elections.
The subject line is blunt: “Countering Foreign Threats to 2026 Elections.”
Hegseth writes that as the country approaches this election cycle, “we must prove that we can and will protect the integrity of our democratic processes from any threat.”
He quotes President Trump directly: “free and fair elections are the foundation of our republic” and “no country can be great without fair elections.”
Then he gives the order.
Cyber Command and the Combat Support Agencies “will prioritize the use of DoW intelligence and cyber capabilities to ensure foreign actors do not meddle in our democratic systems.”
