Overview
- Sen. Elissa Slotkin sent letters asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine to confirm that the Department of Defense will not send federal troops to polling sites or seize election materials.
- The Pentagon said it will respond directly to her correspondence and the Joint Chiefs had not immediately replied, leaving lawmakers awaiting a formal written assurance.
- Federal law generally bars the deployment of armed federal forces to election locations except to repel armed enemies, and any domestic response to unrest would most likely involve the National Guard under state control.
- Slotkin cited President Donald Trump’s past comments about nationalizing elections and earlier moves including 2025 deployments of active-duty forces as reasons for pressing for explicit guarantees.
- The request follows previous reassurances from top officers, including Gen. Mark Milley’s 2020 letter affirming an apolitical military, and it sets up further congressional oversight and public scrutiny of how the Pentagon will spell out its limits.