Political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security wanted the agency that protects election systems to get and hack a voting machine, which shocked staffers.
asserted
which → want → staffers
President Donald Trump has said voting is vulnerable even as his administration has undermined the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is supposed to protect it.
asserted
which → say → it
- On Their Own: Election officials across the country say the Trump administration’s attacks on CISA have left them to solve security issues with the midterms approaching.
asserted
midterms → say → issues
These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
asserted
who → write → story
A few months into President Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security made an unusual request of its agency focused on cybersecurity: Secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it.
asserted
appointees → make → it
The appointees wanted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to procure the machine, examine it and report back the findings so they could be given to the White House, according to two former administration officials with knowledge of the request.
uncertain
they → want → request
The proposition was shocking to CISA’s career staffers, according to one of the former officials.
uncertain
proposition → accord → officials
CISA typically worked to thwart hackers.
asserted
CISA → work → hackers
Moreover, the agency had been directed not to alert the voting machine company if it uncovered flaws, contrary to its standard practices.
asserted
it → direct → practices
The request made the CISA employees fear they were being asked to take part in political interference.
asserted
they → make → interference
“My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any [election] results they don’t like,” one of the former officials said.
uncertain
one → keep → officials
“This goes against everything CISA represents.”
asserted
CISA → go → everything
The CISA employees repeatedly told the political appointees that their request was impossible, in part because the agents capable of pulling off such an operation had just been laid off by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative.
asserted
agents → tell → initiative
The appointees eventually stopped pressing CISA.
asserted
appointees → stop → CISA
Though not acted on, the request shows how the Trump administration has tried to use the agency for its own ends while draining it of resources for one of its critical missions: protecting the nation’s voting systems.
asserted
administration → act → systems
In Trump’s second term, his administration has laid off or pushed out more than 1,000 CISA employees, shrinking the agency by about one-third.
asserted
administration → lay → third
The president’s 2027 budget proposal would reduce funding for the agency by another $700 million, which could necessitate 900 additional layoffs.
uncertain
which → reduce → layoffs
In response, Democratic lawmakers have called for an investigation into CISA’s ability to do its job and demanded answers as to why federal funds are not being used to support election security as directed by Congress.
asserted
funds → call → Congress
Since Trump signed the CISA Act in 2018, the agency has worked with state authorities and voting machine vendors to help protect election infrastructure from cyberattacks.
asserted
agency → sign → cyberattacks
During Trump’s second term, though, CISA has abandoned much of this work.
asserted
CISA → abandon → work
Several state election authorities said the agency provided them no assistance — and no explanation for its absence — during the most critical planning stages for the upcoming midterms.
asserted
agency → say → midterms
“There is a difference between deprioritizing and being nonexistent,” said Ryan Macias, an election technology and cybersecurity expert who has worked as a consultant for CISA.
asserted
who → be → CISA
In 2025 and through mid-September 2026 — when the bulk of preparations for the election typically would have been completed — “they were nonexistent.
asserted
they → complete → election
While Trump has repeatedly warned that America’s elections are vulnerable to hacking, in some cases repeating disproven claims, experts said his administration is undermining the federal government’s role in helping secure them.
uncertain
administration → warn → them
Though CISA re-emerged in September with a last-minute security plan for the election, some state officials told ProPublica they fear that what is left of the agency has been compromised by a conspiracy-obsessed presidential administration.
asserted
left → re → administration
In recent months, in reviving debunked theories about the 2020 election, the Trump administration has declassified troves of records, including sensitive material that state officials provided to CISA.
asserted
officials → revive → CISA
Some state authorities said they no longer trusted the administration enough to share information with CISA, a key
asserted
they → say → CISA
“They’ve violated the entire premise of that information-sharing relationship,” said one former high-ranking federal cybersecurity official who now advises state governments on national security.
asserted
who → violate → security
“There’s no fucking way they’re ever going to give any information to CISA.
asserted
they → ’ → CISA
And it’s unclear if they ever will in the future.”
uncertain
they → ’ → future
A spokesperson for the White House declined an interview request but defended Trump’s handling of election security in an emailed statement.
asserted
spokesperson → decline → statement
“President Trump has done more than any other President to ensure we have free and fair elections,” said Lauren Bis.
asserted
Bis → do → elections
Bis referred specific questions about CISA’s handling of elections to DHS.
asserted
Bis → refer → DHS
DHS and CISA did not respond to interview requests or to a detailed list of questions.
asserted
DHS → respond → questions
Current and former CISA employees and state election officials describe an agency that has become significantly less equipped to help states fight legitimate cyber threats.
asserted
states → describe → threats
State leaders say they have used their own resources to shore up gaps left by CISA, such as paying for sensor technology that can detect unusual activity in election networks.
asserted
that → say → networks
But some services, like intel on foreign actors, can’t be replicated.
asserted
services → replicate → actors
Some people interviewed said they were worried that Trump and his allies continue to ratchet up rhetoric about voting security, particularly about threats to voting machines.
asserted
Trump → interview → machines
Officials in one large voting jurisdiction said they have met privately with machine vendors to come up with a contingency plan if the federal government seizes their machines or declares them unusable.
asserted
them → say → machines
“I don’t pay attention to what the president says.
asserted
president → pay → what
…and 99 more, not listed.
The Aporia
