As Trump warns of election threats, independent agencies have been cut

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has cut or hobbled the independent federal agencies that would normally handle election security issues, such as those the president claimed the United States is experiencing.

In his White House address on July 16, Trump asserted that U.S. elections are vulnerable to foreign interference and claimed China meddled in the 2020 election. He said Americans have for years been "blatantly lied to" by the government about the security of election infrastructure, including voting machines and ballot-counting systems – claims that could not immediately be verified.

Some of the agencies that pushed back on Trump's baseless 2020 election fraud claims have seen staff steadily reduced since 2025, diminishing their ability to be a trusted voice for election officials and American voters, said Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, a nonpartisan think tank.

"This is an attempt to undermine trust in our election system being waged by our own president and federal government and his administration and the system," Weiser said.

Weiser and other experts told USA TODAY that without those trusted federal voices, it will be up to state election officials to defend the security of elections.

CISA after 2020 election: 'No evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes'

The Constitution leaves election administration to the states. But in recent decades, federal agencies have played increasing roles in cybersecurity, sharing information about potential election threats and voluntarily testing election machines.

On July 9, Trump terminated two of the federal Election Assistance Commission's three members. That diminished the only federal agency devoted solely to helping local election officials prepare for the 2026 midterms.

Over the past year and a half, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency - which helps states prepare for cyber threats - has lost election security staff and funding. The agency defended the nation's election security apparatus in the months leading up to Election Day, even as Trump repeatedly warned of massive fraud that never materialized.

Shortly after the 2020 election, and while Trump was still contesting former President Joe Biden's victory, CISA issued a statement declaring that the general election was the "most secure in American history."

"There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised," CISA reported at the time in an assessment joined by a coalition of election security groups, including the National Association of State Election Directors.

Days later, Trump fired the agency's leader, Christopher Krebs.

'Explaining the facts rather than reassuring'

State and local election officials have already complained that they've seen a significant drop in federal security assistance since Trump returned to office and feel on their own ahead of the midterms. They have also said they don't expect federal agencies to reliably share election threats.

Trump said on July 16 that his administration is committed to addressing the concerns he raised.

"We are committing to fix it, and we're also committing to be working with those states and local jurisdictions to help them fix and patch known technical vulnerabilities before the midterm elections," he said.

Weiser said Trump's moves to scale down federal agencies and put the Justice Department at odds with state election officials should "raise eyebrows." Federal authorities have seized ballots and voting records and pressured states to adopt election procedures favored by his administration.

"The administration has gutted all of the federal programs that were available to assist states with election administration, election security across the government... and while at the same time claiming that there are all sorts of threats to our elections," Weiser said.

Not having an independent, nonpartisan voice at the federal level to trust is "certainly a problem," she said.

"The sad thing is we can't trust our federal government right now when it comes to any of this, and they have undermined their credibility and the credibility of our great government," she said.

Jennifer Gaudette, a University of California, Riverside, assistant public policy professor, said state and local election officials should immediately counter Trump's claims on July 17 with facts about how elections are run in their jurisdictions. Her research has shown that people are less likely to trust election misinformation from the president when it is presented alongside the facts.

"I'm really hopeful we'll see more election officials, secretaries of the state out there just explaining the facts rather than reassuring," she said.

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, a Democrat, said he expects state and local election officials to quickly respond with specifics.

"Elections are important," he said, "and when people talk about them in inaccurate ways, that is dangerous."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As Trump warns of election threats, independent agencies have been cut

Reporting by Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published July 17, 2026 at 12:08 AM.