US military has no plans to send troops to midterm polling sites, Dan Caine says

The highest‑ranking US military officer says there are no plans to deploy troops to polling places during the November midterm elections – responding to Senator Elissa Slotkin’s request for information amid concerns about whether the Trump administration might send service members to election sites.

In a letter obtained by the Guardian, first reported by the Associated Press, Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, told Slotkin “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”. He added that there are also “no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election‑related material”.

Slotkin – a Democrat who serves on the Senate armed services and homeland security committees – sought confirmation from Caine and defense secretary Pete Hegseth after Donald Trump urged Republicans to “nationalize” elections and said he had not ruled out sending guard members or immigration enforcement agents to the polls.

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

Slotkin’s office has not yet received a reply from Hegseth, said Sonja Thrasher, her press secretary. The senator had asked both men to respond by 28 August.

Anxiety among Democrats that the Trump administration could try to meddle in the midterm elections has grown, particularly after the president deployed federal agents in Democratic-led states over the objections of local leaders.

Slotkin told the AP earlier in August that Trump has been laying the groundwork to claim the elections were stolen. She noted that Trump contemplated using the military to seize voting machines after his loss in 2020 and has deployed the national guard to cities against the wishes of Democratic leaders. He also deployed active-duty marines to Los Angeles during his immigration crackdown in 2025.

Federal law prohibits the deployment of armed federal forces to election locations unless “necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States”. If any element of the military were to get involved, it would likely be the national guard under state control.

Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, denied in a Vanity Fair interview last year that Trump would use the military to suppress voting in the midterms.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an email from the Guardian asking for the status of Hegseth’s response to Slotkin.

Slotkin asked Hegseth during an April congressional hearing if he would follow orders to seize ballots. Hegseth called the question a “gotcha hypothetical”, but said: “I’ve never been ordered to do anything illegal, and I won’t.”

In 2020, Gen Mark Milley, then chair of the joint chiefs of staff, responded to a similar letter from Slotkin, a congresswoman at the time.

“I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical U.S. military,” Milley wrote. “In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military.”