Two Democratic lawmakers are escalating pressure on the Department of Homeland Security to release congressionally mandated election security funding, warning that continued delays are undermining preparations for the 2026 midterms.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and CISA Acting Director Nick Anderson expressing "grave concern that time is running out" for the agencies to support state and local election officials against cyber and disinformation threats.
The letter, dated Thursday, notes that more than four months have passed since Congress gave DHS and CISA "clear, bipartisan instructions" to continue Election Security Program activities funded for fiscal year 2024. The lawmakers specifically point to the failure to disburse over $39.6 million in appropriated funds to the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), which provides cybersecurity services to local election offices.
"Under your leadership, CISA has still not provided any of the over $39.6 million in appropriated funds to the EI-ISAC," Padilla and Morelle wrote. "The failure to restore this funding as directed by Congress is a disservice to the thousands of election jurisdictions across this country."
The Democrats also voiced alarm that CISA is only beginning to reestablish working relationships with election officials and rehire critical staff after losing hundreds of personnel. They called this "particularly disturbing" given ongoing Iranian cyberattacks, including recent intrusions on water systems in Minnesota, Michigan, and New Jersey that caused loss of monitoring and control functionality.
"Russia, China, and other foreign and non-state actors also have significant cyber and online election interference capabilities, which are likely increasing with advances in artificial intelligence technology," the lawmakers added.
The letter requests that funding be distributed to EI-ISAC and gives DHS until Sept. 9 to respond on the status of disbursement and hiring for critical election roles at CISA. The move comes as the White House treads carefully on Iran strikes amid heightened election security concerns.
Padilla and Morelle's push follows broader Republican scrutiny of DHS leadership, including calls to remove Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the Army secretary's exit, and comes as Congress punts the shutdown fight to December, potentially delaying further funding decisions.
