The nation’s top military officer said the Pentagon has no plans to send troops to polling places or use military personnel to seize election materials during November’s midterms, offering Democrats their clearest assurance yet that the armed forces will stay out of elections.
Gen. Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the commitment in a letter, released Monday, to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Associated Press was first to report on Caine’s letter.
“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,” Caine wrote. “Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material.”
Caine also said he had “neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order” concerning the military’s role in the elections and stressed that “election administration and security remain the fundamental responsibility of state and local officials.”
The response comes after months of concern among congressional Democrats that President Donald Trump could use troops or federal law enforcement around polling places. Trump has not ruled out sending National Guard troops or immigration agents to voting locations, and in January said he regretted not sending the guard to seize election equipment after the 2020 election.
Slotkin had asked Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for written assurances about the military’s role in the election. Hegseth has not responded, according to Slotkin’s office, despite a deadline last week.
Trending
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but it has said previously that any reply would be directed to Slotkin.
When Slotkin asked Hegseth during an April congressional hearing whether he would deploy troops to polling places, he dismissed the question as a “gotcha hypothetical.”
Caine’s letter does not say troops could never be deployed in connection with the election. Instead, it states that there are currently no plans to do so.
“Every member of the U.S. Armed Forces takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” he wrote, adding that the military “has acted, and will continue to act, in accordance with the Constitution and the law.”
The distinction comes amid Democratic preparations for the possibility of federal forces appearing at or near polling sites. Senate Democrats have conducted tabletop exercises involving such a scenario and have said they are planning election observers, coordination with local officials and voting-rights groups — as well as rapid-response legal efforts.
Federal law already places significant restrictions on using the military around elections. The Posse Comitatus Act generally bars federal troops from carrying out domestic law enforcement, while a separate law makes it a crime to deploy “any troops or armed men” to a place where voting is happening, with a narrow exception involving protection against an armed threat.
Slotkin and other Democrats have argued that even the presence of federal personnel near polling places could intimidate voters, while military personnel handling ballots or voting equipment could raise questions about election integrity.
Author
