Political appointees in the Trump administration asked the federal agency that protects U.S. elections to secretly hack a voting machine, a request that raised alarms Monday after it came to light.
According to a report from ProPublica, Homeland Security political appointees asked the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, last year to acquire a voting machine, hack it and report the findings so they could be given to the White House. The agency was also directed not to alert the machine’s manufacturer if it found flaws, contrary to its standard practices, according to two former administration officials with knowledge of the request.
“My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any [election] results they don’t like,” one of the former officials told ProPublica. “This goes against everything CISA represents.”
“Mind boggling,” wrote cybersecurity analyst Alexis Rapin Monday in a social media post on X.
The request was never carried out. CISA employees “repeatedly” told the appointees it was impossible, in part because the agents capable of pulling it off had just been laid off in the DOGE-led cuts, ProPublica reported. The appointees eventually stopped pressing.
“The Trump administration, who lied about the 2020 election being rigged, lies about voter fraud, and incited a violent riot to retain power — requested voting machines to hack,” wrote Melanie D’Arrigo, a progressive activist and former Democratic congressional candidate. “Don’t overthink this one. It’s not that complicated.”
More than 322,000 federal employees left the government in Trump’s first year back in office, most through buyouts and retirements, as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative pushed to shrink the workforce. At CISA, the administration has laid off or pushed out more than 1,000 employees, shrinking the agency by about one-third, ProPublica reported.
“Those groups couldn’t even order a pizza,” a former senior CISA employee told ProPublica, describing the impact of the DOGE cuts on the agency.
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Marshall Herskovitz zeroed in on the instruction to keep the manufacturer in the dark.
“Most frightening part: CISA was told to hack the machine but NOT TELL THE MANUFACTURER IF ANY FLAWS WERE FOUND,” Herskovitz wrote. “In other words, their intent was to exploit those flaws, not correct them. Trump is willing to go to any lengths to overturn the will of the people.”
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told ProPublica that “President Trump has done more than any other President to ensure we have free and fair elections.” DHS and CISA did not respond to ProPublica’s questions.
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