Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a false claim about the army in his testimony to the House on Wednesday. Then he repeated the false claim in his testimony to the Senate on Thursday.
Democratic Rep. Jill Tokuda asked Hegseth at a Wednesday listening to of the House Armed Services Committee if he would adjust to a hypothetical future order from President Donald Trump to deploy troops to polling places throughout this 12 months’s midterm elections. Tokuda instructed him such a deployment would violate the federal law that prohibits sending federal troops to voting areas until that’s “necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.”
After saying he rejects the notion that Trump would challenge illegal orders, Hegseth stated moments later within the change: “I will note that in 2024, troops were depl… – that was Joe Biden by the way, Joe Biden – were deployed to polling locations in 15 states.” He repeated, “2024 – Joe Biden – troops deployed to polling locations in 15 states. Explain that one to me.”
There’s a straightforward rationalization. Hegseth’s claim shouldn’t be true.
All of the National Guard activations related to the 2024 election had been ordered by state governors, not by Biden. And all 11 of the states that responded to NCS’s requests for data final week stated that none of their troops had been deployed to polling areas.
Rather, the states stated their Guard personnel labored behind the scenes at different areas – serving to with election cybersecurity or serving as inner liaisons – or that their state Guard was not really activated for the election in any case.
Iowa was typical. “We help in a cybersecurity capacity with any major election. But we never leave our state emergency operations center,” Iowa National Guard spokesperson Jackie Schmillen stated in an interview, including that the state Guard personnel are “in a basement.” She emphasised, “We have never gone to a polling station as part of an election.”
Similarly, “The Arizona National Guard did not deploy National Guardsmen to polling locations in 2024,” state Guard spokesperson Erin Hannigan stated in an e-mail. Rather, she stated, “Our Cyber Joint Task Force activated two personnel in a state active-duty standby role. In the event of a potential cyber incident, our Cyber Joint Task Force members were available to assist the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. No such request was made.”
Hegseth didn’t specify which states he was referring to; the Defense Department acknowledged that it had obtained NCS’s requests for touch upon his claims however didn’t find yourself offering a response. So NCS reached out to the 15 states that an Election Day 2024 article in army publication Stars and Stripes stated had activated Guard troops for that day, citing the Guard because the supply of the data.
Four of the states (Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin) didn’t reply, however we couldn’t discover proof these states sent troops to polling areas in 2024, both. Regardless, it’s clear from the 11 states that did reply – once more, all of which stated they deployed no troops to polling areas – that Hegseth’s claim that troops “were deployed to polling locations in 15 states” is wrong.
Hegseth was challenged on his Wednesday claim by Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin at a Senate Armed Services Committee listening to Thursday. But Hegseth reiterated throughout that change: “By the way, in 2024, under the Biden administration, 15 states did deploy troops to polling stations.”
Again, not true.
Trump has not stated he plans to ship troops to polling areas in any future election.
There was a normal election wherein at the least a small number of states did deploy state National Guard troops to polling areas: the 2020 election through the first Trump presidency. Troops, at the least a lot of them out of uniform, assisted with numerous duties at voting websites when some election employees couldn’t do their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But Hegseth’s claim was about the 2024 election through the Biden presidency. And all the states that responded to NCS and stated they did have National Guard personnel engaged on that election made clear that this work was out of public view.
Their feedback had been in step with a statement to reporters the day earlier than the 2024 election from senior National Guard Bureau official Ellis Hopkins. Hopkins stated, of the ten states that had Guard personnel supporting the election as of that day, “None of them are in a civil disturbance or civil response mode. They’re in general support or in supporting cyber networks.”
Here’s what states instructed NCS final week.
Delaware: “Delaware did not have any Soldiers or Airmen at polling locations,” stated Jonah Anderson, spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Matt Meyer. Rather, he stated, 15 folks from the Delaware National Guard helped with cybersecurity help. They both labored remotely or out of the state’s know-how workplace, he stated.
Illinois: Matt Dietrich, spokesperson for the Illinois elections board, stated there have been no state Guard troops at polling places. He stated the Guard was not formally activated by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, however a small variety of Guard personnel had been concerned in election cybersecurity work by way of an settlement with the elections board to assist reply to any incidents; no incidents occurred. “Even if there had been an incident, it’s highly unlikely that it would have resulted in any Guard presence in a polling place. The most likely source for such an incident would have been in the office of a county clerk or board of elections,” Dietrich stated in an e-mail.
New Mexico: “There were no members of the NM National Guard at polling places in 2024, any assertion to the contrary is false,” Michael Coleman, spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, stated in an e-mail. Coleman stated the state Guard helps the state elections workplace monitor its community for cyber intrusions and supplies a safe constructing at its Santa Fe headquarters for elections officers to monitor Election Day operations.
North Carolina: “The North Carolina National Guard did not have any personnel deployed to polling stations in the 2024 Presidential Election,” the state Guard stated in an e-mail.
Pennsylvania: “No Pennsylvania National Guard members were located at polling locations,” Wayne Hall, spokesperson for the state National Guard, stated in an e-mail. “The PANG provided liaison officers to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and City of Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management to aid in interagency coordination and information flow.” Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s workplace added in an e-mail that six folks from the National Guard served in these liaison roles.
West Virginia: “We did not have personnel present at polling stations,” Ariana Shuemake, talking for the state Guard, stated in an e-mail. Rather, she stated, “Our personnel provided cyber support.”
Spokespeople for 3 different states on the Stars and Stripes record of states that had reportedly activated state National Guard personnel for Election Day 2024 – Hawaii, Oregon, Washington state – stated they hadn’t really ended up doing so.
Hawaii: “The Hawaii National Guard did not ‘deploy’ or activate to support 2024 elections,” stated Jeff Hickman, spokesperson for the state protection division.
Oregon: “Oregon National Guard planning occurred in 2024 but were not called up to provide any additional support to law enforcement,” stated Stephen Bomar, spokesperson for the state army division. And Luke Harkins, spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, famous that Oregon’s elections are carried out totally by mail-in poll with out conventional in-person voting places. “The notion that the Oregon National Guard was activated at polling locations is simply false. Oregon is a 100% vote-by-mail state and has been for over two decades,” Harkins stated. He added: “Any planning that took place was to be prepared in case there were disruptions at post offices and/or drop box sites.”
Washington state: “We only had troops on standby to support any civil unrest response if necessary. The election was quiet – there were no requests for support and no need to put anyone on State Active Duty. We certainly didn’t send folks to polling places,” stated Karina Shagren, spokesperson for the state army division.