Trump cuts leave states scrambling to secure elections

CISA has lost around one-third of its workforce since Donald Trump returned to the White House, thinning the federal agency that states have leaned on for election security guidance, cyber grants and operational-security help. As secretaries of state and county election offices prepare for the next federal election, the cuts have left fewer federal personnel to answer questions, share threat information and help shore up election systems.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency treats election security as part of its core mission. CISA offers election security guidance, a cybersecurity toolkit and resources to protect elections, an election security resource library and best practices for securing election systems. In its 2022 Year in Review, the agency's mission was to “understand, manage, and reduce risk” to cyber and physical infrastructure. That mission also extends to operational help: CISA has published guidance for election officials on operational security and runs the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, one of the main federal tools for helping states and localities strengthen cyber defenses.

Election security has depended on coordination across multiple federal agencies, not one office alone. CISA, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, the FBI and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission jointly prepared a 2024 overview for election partners on insider threats.

In April 2025, Trump’s team cut thousands of election-focused federal workers. Funding cuts to a key federal agency left secretaries of state scrambling to fill gaps to secure elections. Some state election officials said they could not rely on Trump’s DHS for election security, because staffing cuts and politics had damaged trust and left them unsure how they would work with the federal government if they were hacked.

The Brennan Center for Justice warned that cuts to election-security staffing and resources could make elections more vulnerable to foreign influence and disinformation and that the government was underprepared to respond to attempts by China to influence elections.