WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, received a response to her letter demanding confirmation confirming that the Department of Defense would not send uniform military to polling locations and that the role of election administration and security is the responsibility of the state and local officials, not the Department of Defense.
The response came from Assistant Secretary of Defense Mark Ditlevson, who was able to confirm that “the Department has no plan to deploy active-duty troops or Federalized National Guard to polling sites, nor does it have any plan to interfere with ballots, voting machines, or other election-related materials,” citing compliance with Federal law. Notably, Hegseth has still remained silent on this issue and President Donald Trump continues to float the idea of using federal forces at the polls and invoking the Insurrection Act.
In August, Slotkin was able to get General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to confirm that the U.S. military has no plans to deploy federal troops or federalized National Guard members to polling places during the November 2026 midterm elections, and no plans to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related materials. In his response, Caine noted that “election administration and security remain the fundamental responsibility of state and local officials.”
Watch Slotkin on MS NOW here.
Read the response from Ditlevson here.
Background:
Slotkin, sent letters to General of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Caine and Secretary of Defense Hegseth asking for a written response and commitment to keep the U.S. military out of the midterm elections. In previous letters sent by Slotkin, General Mark Milley, General CQ Brown, Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Secretary Mark Esper, were each able to provide a response and confirm they would follow the law and our constitution—which is clear about military interference in our elections.
Slotkin also sent letters to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel, and Chief of the National Guard General Steven Nordhaus asking for a written response and commitment to keep federal forces and law enforcement agents out of the midterm elections.
Slotkin has yet to receive responses from Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel.
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