by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. military intelligence and cyber agencies to mobilize their capabilities to protect the 2026 midterm elections from foreign interference, declaring election security a “no-fail mission.”
In a Sept. 22 memorandum released Monday, Hegseth directed U.S. Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to prioritize identifying and countering foreign threats to U.S. election infrastructure.
“I am therefore directing the entire [Defense Intelligence Enterprise] to mobilize every authorized asset, capability, and partnership under your command to defend our election infrastructure from foreign malign influence,” Hegseth wrote.
The directive instructs defense intelligence agencies to collect and analyze intelligence on foreign election threats while ordering U.S. Cyber Command to use its existing authorities and capabilities, working alongside the Department of Homeland Security, to counter potential foreign cyberattacks.
The Pentagon effort is focused on foreign actors rather than domestic election administration, with the memo requiring operations to remain within existing laws, regulations and authorities.
The directive comes ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections and follows the release of a separate election-security plan by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency outlining cyber and physical threats facing state and local election systems.
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