The Pentagon Reveals How the Army Will Protect the U.S. Midterm Elections from Foreign Interference

- The Pentagon announced on Monday that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum directing the military to protect the U.S. midterm elections from foreign interference. The department stated in a press release that U.S. Cyber Command - the military unit responsible for cyber warfare - and combat support agencies will "deploy advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities" with the aim of "detecting, disrupting, and neutralizing foreign interference in U.S. democratic processes."

The memorandum - which comes about five weeks before the midterm elections - directs leadership to work with the Department of Homeland Security to address foreign cyber threats targeting U.S. election infrastructure. The activities outlined in the memorandum largely reflect actions that U.S. intelligence and military agencies have taken to protect U.S. elections from external threats prior to Donald Trump's return to the presidency in 2025.

For example, weeks before the 2024 presidential elections, hackers affiliated with "Cyber Command" conducted a covert operation to disrupt the activities of Russian "phishers" who were broadcasting misleading information targeting American voters, as previously reported by Afaq News. However, the second Trump administration dissolved or downsized many government centers - specifically those under the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence - that were tasked with countering foreign influence operations.

Trump also continued to dismiss or question previous U.S. intelligence assessments regarding Russian and Chinese efforts to influence elections. These factors raised widespread concern among current and former U.S. national security officials that the second Trump administration does not prioritize protecting U.S. elections from foreign interference.

These concerns intensified in April when General Joshua M. Rood - the new head of Cyber Command and the National Security Agency - told lawmakers that he was unaware if a specialized military and intelligence team had been formed, dedicated to addressing foreign threats targeting elections, in preparation for the midterm elections.

Since the 2020 elections, this team - known as the "Election Security Group" (ESG) - has formed a center that allows officials from the National Security Agency (NSA) and Cyber Command to exchange intelligence information and launch counterattacks targeting electronic instigators from Russia, Iran, and others who sought to undermine U.S. elections. The formation of this group came in response to the multifaceted Russian influence operation that targeted the 2016 U.S. elections, a period during which intelligence and security agencies found themselves in a surprising and unprepared position.

It was not immediately clear whether this group would play any role in the new activity ordered by Hegseth. Rod stated in a statement on Monday that Cyber Command and the NSA "regularly counter foreign malicious activities in cyberspace, including those aimed at interfering in our democratic process."

Andrew Schouka, who worked at Cyber Command during the 2020 election cycle, told Afaq News: "What concerns me is that [Rod] testified last April that he was not sure whether there was an Election Security Group (ESG) under Cyber Command or not. The work of this group requires months of planning and coordination, and a large part of its impact is achieved long before Election Day; if work on this matter has just begun now, you are significantly limiting your ability to influence adversaries before the midterm elections."