# Pentagon’s top spies tasked with ‘no-fail’ mission as Hegseth puts foreign midterm meddling in crosshairs

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/pentagons-top-spies-tasked-with-no-fail-mission-as-hegseth-puts-foreign-midterm-meddling-in-crosshairs/
- Published: 2026-11-02T18:54:55+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-02T21:07:03+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Far right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagons-top-spies-tasked-no-fail-mission-hegseth-puts-foreign-midterm-meddling-crosshairs
- Topics: Elections, Politics, World

## Key points

- Hegseth ordered a wider Pentagon effort against foreign election threats.
- The directive labels election security a “no-fail mission”.
- The military’s work focuses on threats originating outside the US.

## Summary

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Pentagon’s intelligence and cyber agencies to make protecting the 2026 midterm elections from foreign interference a “no-fail mission”. The directive broadens the focus across the Defence Intelligence Enterprise, though it is unclear how much it has changed existing operations.

The September order calls on agencies to use authorised resources and partnerships to counter foreign election threats. Their work can include identifying overseas hackers or influence campaigns, alerting civilian agencies and, when authorised, taking action against foreign cyber threats. The military’s role largely ends at the US border; state and local officials run elections, while the FBI and Department of Homeland Security handle domestic security. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency have worked on election security for years, but it remains unclear whether their joint Election Security Group has been re-established for the 2026 midterms.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.