The Joint Chiefs Chairman Tells a Senator the Military Has No Plans to Send Troops to Polling Places; Hegseth Has Not Answered

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote to Sen. Elissa Slotkin that "the Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections," and no plans "to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material." He added that he had "neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order" about the Joint Force's role in November. Slotkin had written to Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Aug. 18 asking both to confirm this by Aug. 28; her press secretary said Hegseth had not replied.

Federal law bars armed federal forces at election sites except to repel armed enemies, so the assurance restates existing law rather than adding to it — and the fact that a senator sought it in writing, and that only one of the two officials answered, is itself the record.

Hegseth, asked in April whether he would follow an order to seize ballots, called the question a "gotcha hypothetical" and said he had never been ordered to do anything illegal. His office had not responded as of Sept. 1.