Pentagon's top spies tasked with 'no-fail' mission as Hegseth puts foreign midterm meddling in crosshairs
Ever since the 2016 presidential election that first got President Donald Trump elected and the ensuing Russiagate scandal, there has been increased scrutiny on foreign meddling in U.S. elections and...
By Fox News · Fox News
Ever since the 2016 presidential election that first got President Donald Trump elected and the ensuing Russiagate scandal, there has been increased scrutiny on foreign meddling in U.S. elections and threats to the American voting system. Now, 10 years later, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is directing his entire intelligence and spy forces on ensuring foreign adversaries do not interfere in Tuesday's midterms. The Pentagon chief has ordered America's military intelligence and cyber agencies to mobilize against foreign threats to the 2026 elections by directing his department's sprawling intelligence apparatus to make election security a priority in what he calls a "no-fail mission." The September directive reaches beyond U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency , instructing the entire Defense Intelligence Enterprise — including agencies responsible for military and geospatial intelligence — to "mobilize every authorized asset, capability, and partnership" against foreign election threats. HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN TX, OH, MI, WI, GA, IA, NV, ME AND FL The order puts some of the military's most sophisticated intelligence capabilities behind a mission that has grown considerably since Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. But with Americans preparing to vote, the extent to which Hegseth's directive has changed the Pentagon's existing election-security operations remains unclear. The Department of War declined to provide Fox News Digital with additional details about how the order is being implemented. Cyber Command separately declined an interview request about its election-security efforts. In practice, the directive can mean military intelligence agencies are tasked with identifying foreign hackers or influence operations overseas, warning civilian agencies about threats headed toward U.S. targets and, when authorized, Cyber Command taking action against the foreign actors or infrastructu…