US Halts Intelligence Briefings to State Election Officials Ahead of 2026 Midterms

The Trump administration has discontinued classified threat briefings and critical cybersecurity services to state election officials, eliminating intelligence-sharing mechanisms that protected US elections since 2016. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency froze all election security activities in February 2025 pending an internal review, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. That review concluded in March 2025, but findings remain unreleased. State officials now report they cannot access the classified briefings, vulnerability assessments, and real-time threat intelligence that were standard through the 2024 election cycle.

Communication Breakdown

State election officials describe a near-total collapse in federal coordination. “We do not have a sense of whether we can rely on CISA for these services as we approach a big election year in 2026,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told OPB in November 2025. By February 2026, officials reported receiving no responses to requests for briefings or technical assistance, per NBC News. “But now, who knows? We have no briefings,” Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas said.

The silence extends beyond briefings. Michigan Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie described ongoing correspondence with CISA staff that abruptly ceased. “All of those relationships have been destroyed,” Edevbie testified at an April 2026 House hearing, according to Nextgov/FCW. “We’ve had instances where our local election officials have been corresponding with members of CISA, and then, all of a sudden, there’s no response.” CISA lost around a third of its workforce in the year through May 2026, per Government Executive.

What States Lost

The cuts eliminated specific services states relied on for threat defense. CISA conducted over 700 cybersecurity assessments for local election jurisdictions nationwide between 2023 and 2024, the Brennan Center found. The administration terminated funding for the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which coordinated threat intelligence across all 50 states. The Department of Homeland Security also shuttered the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council, a protected forum where public and private sectors exchanged classified threat data.

The FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, a 30-person team tracking Foreign Interference operations, was dissolved by Attorney General Pam Bondi in February 2025, CNN reported. The NSA and Cyber Command’s Election Security Group remained dormant as of late April 2026, months before the midterms. Paul Lux, Okaloosa County, Florida’s top election official, said the classified briefings “allowed me to personally connect some dots by making the threats more tangible.” Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt noted states cannot replicate federal intelligence access: “No local jurisdiction or state can have the same access to intelligence or information the way that our federal partners can,” he told Infosecurity Magazine.

Foreign Threats Persist

The drawdown occurred as adversaries maintained active operations against US election infrastructure. Russian-linked actors conducted bomb threats at polling places during both 2024 and 2025 elections. China and Iran continue probing voting systems for vulnerabilities. Yet the 2026 annual intelligence assessment omitted mentions of foreign threats to American elections for the first time in nearly a decade, Defense One reported in March 2026. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified the focus shifted to “election integrity” rather than foreign interference.

The change represents a policy reversal of the administration’s own first-term approach. Trump’s 2018 executive action designated elections as critical infrastructure and established CISA, which built bipartisan trust with state officials through 2024. “In Trump 1.0, the Department of Homeland Security and CISA in particular were excellent partners,” Minnesota’s Simon told NBC News. A CISA spokesman defended the shift, stating the agency “will not be functioning the way it was during the Biden Administration when it was performing duties outside of its statutory authority — to include electioneering and censorship,” per Votebeat.

States Seek Alternatives

Without federal support, states are exploring private-sector cybersecurity services and mutual aid agreements, though officials acknowledge these cannot replicate classified intelligence access. “We are starting to assume that some of those services are not going to be available to us, and we are looking elsewhere to fill that void,” Matt Simon, former head of the secretary of state’s association, told OPB. More than one in three local officials reported experiencing threats, harassment, or abuse because of their job in a 2025 survey, per the Brennan Center.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence appointed two officials in May 2026 to lead election threats coordination, according to Government Executive. ODNI claimed briefings remain “robust,” but state officials have not confirmed receiving restored access. The FY2027 budget proposal would eliminate CISA’s election security program entirely.

What to Watch

The restoration timeline for federal election security support remains unclear as the 2026 midterms approach. State officials will seek clarity on whether May 2026 ODNI appointments signal renewed federal engagement or merely structural reshuffling. Watch for states formalising interstate mutual aid agreements or regional intelligence-sharing compacts to fill federal gaps. Monitor whether classified threat briefings resume before summer 2026 primary elections, when voting systems face first major operational tests of the cycle. The FY2027 appropriations process will determine whether Congress restores or permanently eliminates CISA election funding. Finally, track whether adversary activity escalates in the absence of federal deterrence — bomb threats, disinformation campaigns, and infrastructure probing provide measurable indicators of exploitation.