WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration eliminated federal funding for the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC) in 2025. The administration has initiated legal proceedings against states to obtain voter registration data and attempted to access voting machines and election ballots.

Markwayne Mullin, currently the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, voted against certifying the Electoral College results on January 6, 2021. Mullin stated at the time, "Due to all the fraud and uncertainty surrounding the 2020 election there is no way I can vote to certify the Electoral College." Additionally, associates of former Central Intelligence Agency operative Gary Berntsen said Mullin arranged a meeting at Mar-a-Lago for Berntsen to brief President Donald Trump's team on Venezuelan election interference theories.

Election officials have expressed concerns regarding these and other actions. Matt Crane, who runs a professional organization for local election officials, said, "I'm actively discouraging it. I don't trust how the administration is using that data. I don't trust that they're going to keep it confidential." Crane added, "All of this points to the fact that these are not trusted partners anymore. They've brought the fox into the henhouse."

Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic Secretary of State for Michigan, commented on the removal of federal funding for the center. She said, "The actions of defunding and dismantling those protections speak for themselves. And it's meant that we as states have had to rebuild networks to protect our respective states from foreign interference. That's not easy." The EI-ISAC received federal funding for its first seven years of operation after its establishment following reported foreign interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

During a March confirmation hearing, Mullin stated that department agents would only be present at polling places if a specific threat existed at those locations. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which has operated without a Senate-confirmed director during the current presidential term, has also experienced turnover, with a majority of its election security personnel leaving their positions in the previous year.