Trump Second-Term Cuts Shrink Federal Election Security Workforce
Thousands of federal election-security workers were cut during President Trump's second term, shrinking the federal workforce that helps protect state and local elections and drawing alarm from officials and lawmakers.[1]
The Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency saw staffing drop and had roughly 900 fewer active personnel than a year earlier, officials and documents show.[1] The administration's proposed FY2026 budget sought about $2.4 billion for CISA, down from roughly $3 billion requested the prior year.[1] Agency managers placed 17 CISA election-security employees on administrative leave in February 2025 while election programs underwent an internal review.[1] CISA also ended federal support for the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center and curtailed its cooperative ties with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center.[1]
By mid-2025 CISA staffing had fallen to around 2,500 from approximately 3,400 a year earlier, with nearly 1,000 personnel leaving or removed from active service. On Feb. 5, 2025 Attorney General Pam Bondi dissolved the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, which had investigated covert foreign influence operations targeting U.S. elections. In May 2026 Sen. Mark Warner formally asked DHS to explain reports that CISA had stopped providing election-security support to states and localities, and state officials have appealed to Congress to restore federal cyber programs and grants.
Mainstream coverage initially presented anti-disinformation and election-protection work as technical and nonpartisan. But critics and some officials now say cuts and administrative reviews have politicized those programs and reduced the federal capacity to detect threats before they spread.
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📌 Key Facts
- By mid-2025 CISA staffing had fallen to around 2,500 from approximately 3,400 a year earlier, with nearly 1,000 personnel leaving or removed from active service.
- The Trump administration's FY2026 budget proposal sought about $2.4 billion for CISA, down from roughly $3 billion requested for FY2025 under the prior administration.
- In February 2025, soon after Trump began his second term, 17 CISA election-security employees were placed on administrative leave and the agency's broader election-security activities were put under internal review.
- CISA ended federal support for the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center and reduced then ended its cooperative arrangement with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which had provided cyber-threat monitoring and resources to states.
- On Feb. 5, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi dissolved the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, which had been created during Trump’s first term to investigate covert foreign influence operations targeting U.S. elections.
- In May 2026, Sen. Mark Warner formally asked DHS to explain reports that CISA was no longer providing states and localities with election-security support, and state officials have appealed to Congress to restore federal cyber programs and grants.
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