U.S. military’s top officer rules out troops at polls in November

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed in writing that the U.S. military has no plans to send federal troops or federalized National Guard members to polling places during the November 2026 midterm elections, the Associated Press reported.

The confirmation came in a letter to Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who had asked both Caine and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to commit in writing that the military would not interfere with the vote. The AP obtained the letter Monday.

“The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections,” Caine wrote. “Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material.”

Caine also addressed the possibility of being ordered to act unlawfully.

“I have neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order concerning the role of the Joint Force in the upcoming November 2026 midterm elections,” Caine wrote.

Caine noted in his response that “election administration and security remain the fundamental responsibility of state and local officials.”

Slotkin sent her letters to both Caine and Hegseth, requesting a response by last Friday. As of Monday, Hegseth had not replied, according to the AP. Slotkin’s office noted that Caine’s predecessors as chairman, Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. CQ Brown, along with former defense secretaries Lloyd Austin and Mark Esper, had each previously responded to similar requests and confirmed they would follow the law and the Constitution regarding military involvement in elections.

Slotkin told the AP earlier in August that President Trump had been laying the groundwork to claim the midterm elections were stolen. She pointed to Trump’s 2020 consideration of using the military to seize voting machines after his election loss, his deployment of the National Guard to cities over the objections of Democratic leaders, and his 2025 deployment of active-duty Marines to Los Angeles during an immigration crackdown.