Trump DHS Appointees Told CISA to Secretly Acquire and Hack a Voting Machine, ProPublica Reports

ProPublica reported Oct. 19, 2026, that DHS political appointees directed staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to acquire a voting machine, find ways to compromise it and report the results to the White House, without alerting the manufacturer, departing from CISA's normal practice. Two former officials said career staff were alarmed, believing they were being asked to help lay groundwork for challenging election results, and told the appointees the operation was not feasible because DOGE layoffs had removed the needed specialists.

Neither the officials who gave the order nor its purpose is named; one former official speculated the goal was to "keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any election results they don't like." The report follows a year in which CISA's election-security outreach to states and vendors has been sharply cut, with a former consultant calling its support "nonexistent" heading into the midterms.

DHS, CISA and the White House did not respond to ProPublica, and no staffer is reported to have formally refused the request.