ProPublica: DHS Political Appointees Asked CISA to Secretly Acquire and Hack a Voting Machine, Former Officials Say

ProPublica reported, citing former administration officials, that a few months into Trump’s second term political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security asked CISA to secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it, with the findings to go to the White House. CISA had also been directed not to alert the voting machine company if it found flaws, contrary to standard practice. One former official said the findings could be kept “in their back pocket to invalidate any” election results the appointees did not like. CISA staff repeatedly said it was impossible, and the appointees eventually stopped pressing. The request was not acted on. The account rests on anonymous former officials; DHS and CISA did not respond to ProPublica’s questions.

ProPublica places the request inside the hollowing-out of the agency charged with election security: more than 1,000 CISA employees laid off or pushed out, a proposed further $700 million cut, and several state election authorities saying CISA gave them no help in the critical planning period before the midterms. Compare 2025-12-04–trump-eliminates-cisa-retention-incentives-workforce-exodus, 2026-02-22–cisa-shutdown-furloughs-cybersecurity-workforce-devastation and 2025-10-22–election-deniers-dhs-roles.