Shea Levin — text status

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has directed the Pentagon to use intelligence and cyber capabilities to identify and counter foreign interference in the November midterm elections. A September 22 memo tasks U.S. Cyber Command and defense intelligence agencies with prioritizing potential threats, Axios reports. The Pentagon will work with the Department of Homeland Security to counter cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure. Officials said the effort will use the Pentagon’s most advanced AI capabilities to date; the directive does not authorize military personnel to deploy to polling locations.