Democrats demand Homeland Security officials fund election security ahead of midterms

A voter casts their ballot at a polling station in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood as New Yorkers head to the polls on Primary Day on June 23 in New York City. Laura Brett/Getty Images hide caption

Two Democrats tasked with overseeing federal elections are asking why the Trump administration hasn't distributed money to protect state and local elections as directed by Congress.

Sen. Alex Padilla of California and Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York authored a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and the acting head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Nick Anderson, to demand they restore over $39.6 million in funds to a range of specific election security efforts as legislated in the fiscal year 2026 DHS Appropriations bill passed in April. NPR was provided an exclusive copy of the letter.

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"With the midterm elections occurring in two months, we write with grave concern that time is running out … to assist state and local election officials in protecting our elections from cyber and mis-and disinformation threats," the lawmakers wrote.

DHS and CISA did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.

Padilla is the ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee and Morelle is the ranking member on the Committee on House Administration. The authors specifically pointed to gaps in funding for the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center. The center had been a free, voluntary resource for state, local, tribal and territorial election office employees to receive the latest intelligence how bad actors are targeting election infrastructure. While hackers haven't managed to hack voting machines at scale, hack-and-leak and mis-and disinformation campaigns on social media have garnered widespread attention and influenced media coverage. After funding cuts in March 2025, the center was only able to provide limited services through a paid membership model, something "under-resourced communities" cannot afford, Padilla and Morelle wrote.

Major concern over foreign election meddling spiked during the 2016 presidential election when the U.S. intelligence community concluded that Russia was trying to interfere including by leaking damaging information about Hillary Clinton to sway American voters in favor of Donald Trump. However, the threat has only grown in complexity, as other foreign adversaries, including Iran, have ramped up efforts to undermine confidence in the American electoral system and advocate for their preferred candidates and policies.

The Trump administration has historically focused on election security as a political issue. President Trump has dedicated a significant chunk of federal resources to attempt to cast doubt on the intelligence community's 2016 assessments and prove his false claims of election fraud in 2020, most recently in July during a primetime speech about election vulnerabilities where he offered no new evidence the election won by President Joe Biden was somehow compromised.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has slashed federal funding for election security programs and cut a range of federal jobs focused on the issue, including at DHS's CISA.

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Padilla and Morelle cite "the removal of hundreds of CISA personnel and attempts by the Trump administration to slash the agency's budget" as a major concern, particularly as the midterm elections draw near.

Additionally, the lawmakers argue the need is particularly urgent, given ongoing conflicts the U.S. is embroiled in, the rapid increase in cyberattacks targeting American critical infrastructure, as well as rapidly advancing artificial intelligence models that are uncovering vulnerabilities in code faster than ever before.

"This is particularly disturbing at a time when our nation is at war with the Republic of Iran, which has reportedly engaged in sophisticated cybersecurity attacks, including on water infrastructure in the United States and nuclear energy facilities in the United Kingdom," they wrote. "Russia, China, and other foreign and non-state actors also have significant cyber and online election interference capabilities, which are likely increasing with advances in artificial intelligence."

The lawmakers conclude that the Trump administration is unlikely to "repair trust with election officials" before the November elections. However, they say federal officials have an obligation to distribute funds to the information sharing center and to support local election security advisory positions in regions across the country.

"The failure to restore this funding as directed by Congress is a disservice to the thousands of election jurisdictions across this country," they wrote.

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