Senator presses Hegseth, Caine for commitment to keep US military out of the midterm elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michigan Sen. As Democrats have triggered concern that the Trump administration could use the military to interfere with the vote.

“I’d ask you to confirm a simple statement: the Department of Defense will not send Federal troops to the polls or to seize election materials of any kind,” Slotkin wrote to Hegseth and to Gen, elissa Slotkin asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday to confirm he won’t send U.S. troops to polling places during November’s midterm elections. As it does with all congressional correspondence, dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in letters Tuesday.

The Pentagon said in an email that it will respond directly to Slotkin. The Joint Chiefs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Slotkin told The Associated Press that Trump has been laying the groundwork to claim the midterms were stolen. According to She, 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.