FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [email protected]
09/01/26
DASS: What DHS Should Actually be Focused on Instead of More Politically-Driven Investigations
WASHINGTON – Democratic Association of Secretaries of State (DASS) Chair Cisco Aguilar released the following statement after media reports that the Department of Homeland Security plans additional investigations into “voter fraud,” starting today, even though there is no evidence that widespread voter fraud has occurred in recent elections.
From Cisco Aguilar, Chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State: “If the Department of Homeland Security wants to do something actually useful, it should investigate the real problem: the unexplained decision by the Trump Administration to slash cybersecurity support for election departments. This announcement looks like more of the same from the Trump Administration—focusing on distractions and political games over doing the necessary work to secure and fund our election systems. Democratic Secretaries of State will not be intimidated and will follow all current state and federal laws to ensure eligible voters are able to cast a ballot without interference from the Federal government.”
Background:
February 2025: Trump administration ordered CISA to cut $10 million in annual funding to two cybersecurity initiatives helping state and local officials: the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. “The Trump administration has cut millions of dollars in federal funding from two cybersecurity initiatives, including one dedicated to helping state and local election officials. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, has ended about $10 million in annual funding to the nonprofit Center for Internet Security, a CISA spokesperson said in an email Monday. It’s the latest move by Trump administration officials to rein in the federal government’s role in election security, which has prompted concerns about an erosion of guardrails to prevent foreign meddling in U.S. elections. […] The two cybersecurity initiatives facing cuts are the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which included state and local election officials along with representatives of voting system manufacturers, and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which has benefited state, local and tribal government offices. Both have been organized within a nonprofit, the Center for Internet Security.” [Associated Press, 3/10/25]
Cybersecurity Dive: CISA lost roughly one-third of its workforce since January 2025. “The agency has lost roughly one-third of its workforce since January 2025. […] The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is preparing employees for a reorganization that will reduce the depleted agency’s focus on certain missions in order to emphasize operational technology security and other high-profile goals. Nick Andersen, the executive assistant director of CISA’s Cybersecurity Division, delivered a warning about the shifting priorities at the resource-constrained agency during a town-hall meeting for CSD staffers on Thursday afternoon. Three people familiar with the matter described the meeting to Cybersecurity Dive, all of them requesting anonymity to speak freely. […] The comments from Andersen, one of CISA’s few Trump administration appointees, come as the nation’s lead cyber defense agency is still reeling from a year of layoffs, retirements, scandals and mission changes, all of which have weakened morale and alienated or alarmed some of the agency’s key partners.” [Cybersecurity Dive, 2/13/26]
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