Pentagon's top spies tasked with 'no-fail' mission as Hegseth puts foreign midterm meddling in crosshairs

The directive, issued in September, 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.

In practice, this means military intelligence agencies will identify foreign hackers or influence operations overseas, warn civilian agencies about threats headed toward U.S. targets, and when authorized, Cyber Command may take action against the foreign actors or infrastructure behind them.

Election security evolution

The Pentagon's election security mission isn't new. Cyber Command and NSA have spent years tracking and disrupting foreign threats around American elections, including operations targeting Russian actors during previous election cycles.

The effort took shape ahead of the 2018 midterms when the agencies formed a 'Russia Small Group' focused on foreign interference, which later evolved into a joint Election Security Group.

Current threats and concerns

U.S. intelligence officials have seen no evidence that foreign adversaries have attempted to interfere with voting machines, physical election infrastructure or vote counting ahead of Tuesday's midterms.

However, officials continue to track foreign influence efforts from Russia, China and Iran, with Russia remaining the most active foreign influence threat. Lawmakers have noted Russia is using disinformation to target candidates and undermine confidence in the election, while China's efforts focus more narrowly on candidates viewed as hostile to Beijing.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., urged Americans to remain 'on high alert' for foreign disinformation, particularly as artificial intelligence makes such campaigns easier to spread.

Broader implications

U.S. elections are attractive targets for foreign adversaries because the stakes extend far beyond who wins office. Influencing American voters or undermining confidence in the process can shape U.S. policy, weaken public support for policies they oppose and deepen divisions without ever touching a voting machine.

Hegseth's directive makes the overseas mission a priority across the broader military intelligence enterprise, though the Pentagon has not disclosed whether it has resulted in additional personnel, resources or organizational changes ahead of Election Day.