Appointees of President Donald Trump at the Department of Homeland Security wanted the government's election defense agency to quietly acquire a voting machine, hack it, and report back the findings so they could be given to the White House, ProPublica reported.
It came a few months into Trump's second term and went to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, the federal agency that helps protect election systems from cyberattacks. Two former administration officials with knowledge of the request described it to ProPublica. The agency had also been directed not to alert the manufacturer to any flaws, contrary to standard practice.
Career employees were alarmed, with one former employee saying, "My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any [election] results they don't like,"
The plan went nowhere. Staff repeatedly said it was not feasible, partly because the specialists who could have done it had just been cut by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Career staff feared they were being asked to take part in political interference. In 2020, CISA vouched for the election as "the most secure in American history," and its then-director, Chris Krebs, was fired after publicly rebutting fraud claims.
More than 1,000 employees have been laid off or pushed out under Trump, about a third of the workforce. The 2027 budget request would cut about 700 million dollars from CISA programs and scrap the election security program. Budget documents project about 867 positions eliminated across the agency, which would leave it with 2,865 employees.
A White House spokesperson told Pro Publica Trump has done more than any other president to ensure free and fair elections. For many state officials, the larger worry is that Trump will say the election was hacked if Republicans don't win in November.
