Trump eliminates CISA's election security program, cuts election grants 40%
🔒Digital Rights🗳️Elections
Trump's FY2026 budget, released in June 2025, proposed eliminating CISA's Election Security Program entirely—all 14 staff positions and $39.6 million in funding. The program coordinated cybersecurity assistance to state and local election offices across all 50 states.
Before the budget proposal, CISA had already acted: in early 2025, the agency pulled federal funding for the EI-ISAC, the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center. The EI-ISAC had provided 4,000 election offices with real-time alerts when cyber threats hit election systems in other states.
The EI-ISAC shutdown cost roughly $10 million but effectively ended a nationwide early-warning system for election cyberattacks. When the EI-ISAC operated, a county clerk in Ohio would learn within hours if the same hacker group that hit Georgia's voter registration database was now targeting Ohio.
The Trump administration also proposed a 40% cut to Election Assistance Commission (EAC) election security grants. The EAC distributes Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds to states for equipment upgrades, cybersecurity training, and auditing. A 40% cut means states must either absorb costs or skip upgrades.
The dismantling follows a pattern that started in 2020: Trump fired CISA Director Chris Krebs on November 17, 2020, by tweet, after Krebs coordinated an interagency effort declaring the 2020 election 'the most secure in American history.' Krebs was a lifelong Republican and had been unanimously confirmed by the Senate.
Trump's executive order signed in January 2025 directed the DOJ to investigate Krebs and revoke his security clearance, directly targeting the former official who had contradicted Trump's election fraud claims. This created a chilling effect on career employees at CISA willing to make similar public statements.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee held hearings in spring 2025 criticizing the election security cuts, with members from both parties expressing concern. Bipartisan concern did not translate into legislative action to restore the funding.
State and local election officials are now navigating the federal funding gap. Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Michigan reported in 2025 that they were restructuring state-level programs to absorb functions that CISA used to provide. Smaller counties with no dedicated IT staff are the most exposed.
🔒Digital Rights🗳️Elections
People, bills, and sources
Chris Krebs
Former CISA Director (fired November 2020)
Kristi Noem
Secretary of Homeland Security (2025)
Jen Easterly
Former CISA Director (departed January 2025)
Gary Peters
Senate Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member (D-MI)
Al Schmidt
Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth
What you can do
1
civic action
Contact your state election officials about cybersecurity funding
Your state's Secretary of State or Elections Director now must fill the gap left by the federal election security cuts. Asking what your state is doing to replace EI-ISAC services and HAVA funding shows officials that constituents care about election security.
My name is [name] from [city]. I'm calling about election security funding. I understand that federal funding for the EI-ISAC and CISA's Election Security Program has been cut. What is [state] doing to replace these services? Are small counties in our state protected against cyber threats to voter registration systems and election infrastructure?
2
civic action
Contact your senators about restoring election security funding
The Senate appropriations process sets federal agency budgets. Senators who vote on DHS appropriations can restore CISA's election security funding even if the executive branch proposes cutting it. The Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee has oversight authority.
My name is [name], a constituent from [city]. I'm calling about election security funding. The FY2026 budget proposes eliminating CISA's Election Security Program and cutting EAC grants 40%. I want Senator [name] to restore this funding in the appropriations process. Every American, regardless of party, deserves elections that aren't vulnerable to cyberattack.
3
personal action
Check if your county uses equipment protected by EI-ISAC services
Ballotpedia and your state election board's website can tell you what voting systems your county uses. The Brennan Center for Justice has published analysis of which states are most exposed to cyber vulnerabilities after the federal funding cuts.
Visit the Brennan Center's election security page to find analysis of your state's cybersecurity posture. Your county clerk's office can tell you what voting systems you use and whether they've been audited recently.