Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the National Security Agency, U.S. Cyber Command, and military cyber units to help defend election systems during the midterms. His order mandates the use of federal resources to counter foreign hacking, intimidation, and attempts to disrupt lawful voting.

Military cyber specialists have helped protect election systems since voting infrastructure was designated critical in 2017. What has changed is the balance of responsibility. President Trump reduced CISA’s election security staff and operations, prompting the administration to rely more heavily on the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command. CISA remains involved, however, and has released a plan outlining potential threats and the support still available to state and local officials.

The preparations are arriving only weeks before Election Day, with early voting already underway. Some critics have argued that rebuilding federal support this late may limit its usefulness after the administration dismissed civilian personnel, although the administration maintains that the military effort will protect voters from foreign coercion and malign influence. The Supreme Court has also allowed federal citizenship databases to be used for voter checks while blocking President Trump’s attempt to restrict mail voting.

State and local governments manage election systems, but foreign cyberattacks can cross jurisdictions in mere seconds. The NSA and Cyber Command possess surveillance capabilities and technical expertise that local counties cannot reproduce. Their involvement could help detect coordinated attacks and warn election offices before compromised systems affect voting or reporting…

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Military cyber units strengthen election defenses without controlling the election itself, since their work focuses on foreign hackers and network security. Any questions or concerns regarding voter eligibility and ballots fall under the jurisdiction of civilian election officials. Keeping these duties separate allows military experts to stop foreign attacks without giving any administration a role in deciding how Americans vote or whose ballots count.

Foreign hackers can wreak havoc on elections without ever altering a ballot. Attacking election-night reporting systems could delay results and fuel claims of false counts. This is where military cyber support matters, as it can quickly identify foreign operators and contain an intrusion before a technical failure becomes a political crisis.

Foreign interference is most effective when Americans cannot tell whether a delay came from an attack or an ordinary technical failure. The NSA and U.S. Cyber Command can help trace malicious activity to foreign networks by warning local officials about active threats and disrupting operations before they reach election systems.

Foreign influence campaigns often spread through social media accounts, and activist groups, and tracking those networks may expose citizens who shared misleading content without knowing where it originated. Congress should require the Pentagon to disclose what domestic information it collects, how long it keeps that material, and which agencies can access it. Defending election infrastructure is a legitimate military mission when the attacker is abroad, but following Americans because of what they read or repost is not.

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