The Trump administration has cut funds for election security.
Posted by IHIP News, Checked
- Sources
- 6 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
IHIP NewsSep 20, 2026
Multiple independent sources (AP, Senator Padilla's statement, NPR/TechTimes on the withheld $39.6M, Politico, ProPublica, WBUR's EI-ISAC account) report the Trump administration cut or defunded federal election security funding and programs, which supports the claim as of 2026-09-20.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… FEMA is threatening that if states do not change election policies, they'll risk losing millions in federal terrorism prevention funds. Trump has also cut funds for election security, and so we're asking you guys very seriously: use your critical thinking here. Is this guy planning another January six? Is he planning that for the midterms? …
IHIP News · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. AP reports the administration gutted the nation's cybersecurity agency's election security work last year, and officials say the new plan comes too late.[1]
Supports. Senators and Representatives Padilla and Morelle wrote that the administration has not distributed over $39.6 million in congressionally appropriated election security funds, which TechTimes describes as withheld and not rescinded.[3][6]
Supports. Politico reports the administration significantly scaled back federal election security support, including funding cuts to the EI-ISAC, which lost much of its service capacity.[4]
Supports. WBUR quotes EI-ISAC's leader saying the federal government zeroed out election security and cybersecurity funding to the states in February 2025.[7]
Supports. ProPublica reports CISA laid off or pushed out over 1,000 employees and abandoned much of its election security work during Trump's second term.[5]
Context. The extraction is faithful to the passage's wording, and the cuts are described as occurring from early 2025 onward, so the claim held as of the September 2026 posting date.[2][8]
Sources
8 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 3 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1US election security plan comes late, officials sayapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Padilla Statement on Trump Administration's Last Minute ...padilla.senate.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 3Democrats demand Homeland Security officials fund election security ahead of midtermsnpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4States face foreign threats — and a fractured federal ...politico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5Trump Appointees Asked a Federal Cybersecurity Agency to Secretly Acquire a Voting Machine — and Hack Itpropublica.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 6Trump Administration Withholds $39.6M Election Security Funds ...techtimes.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7Could the biggest election security threat come from the federal ...wbur.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 8Democrats demand Homeland Security officials fund ...houstonpublicmedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Trump administration cut the CISA budget by one-third.Can’t tell
- The Trump administration dismantled or significantly reduced the size and capability of organizations like CISA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the State Department that identified foreign influence efforts.True
- The Trump administration fired the remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission.True
- The Trump administration performed a pocket rescission of $800 million across multiple programs.True