The trouble began with a simple inquiry that Energy Secretary Chris Wright appeared bent on obscuring rather than answering plainly.
On ABC’s This Week, host Jonathan Karl pressed him about a contradiction that has haunted the administration since President Donald Trump delivered a prime-time address on June 16 accusing enduring vulnerabilities in the nation’s election system while reviving unsupported claims about the 2020 election.
With the midterm elections looming in November, Trump is advancing a broad election-security agenda while at the same time cutting back the federal agency tasked with safeguarding election infrastructure from cyber threats.
Since Trump’s second term began, nearly 1,000 employees, roughly a third of the workforce at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have left the agency through layoffs, resignations, administrative leave, contract expirations or program closures.
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Trump’s Election Security Push Clashes with Deep CISA Cuts
According to CBS News, staffing has fallen from roughly 3,400 employees to about 2,500, while the administration’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget would reduce the agency’s funding from the roughly $3 billion sought for fiscal 2025 to approximately $2.4 billion.
“If he’s so concerned about possible foreign interference in our elections, why does his budget cut the agency that would be charged with preventing that?” Karl asked, underscoring the disconnect between the administration’s rhetoric and its actions.
Wright offered an answer that never directly tackled the contradiction and instead pointed broadly to cybersecurity efforts across the federal government.
“Well, look, there are many cybersecurity agencies across the government,” Wright said. “We meet regularly on that topic, and our efforts have only ramped up. Sure, they’ve grown more sophisticated and their focus has shifted. But I wouldn’t look at inputs, the money spent. I’d look at outputs, the quality of United States cybersecurity that’s never been higher than right now under President Trump.”
“It’s never been higher; you’re including election security in that,” Wright continued. “Across the board, we are approaching cybersecurity with threats from adversaries in mind. I haven’t been involved in the election efforts, so I can’t comment on them. But clearly, maintaining trust in American government systems and keeping our nation secure is the top priority for the Trump administration.”
Critics Respond to Wright Dodging Karl’s Question on CISA Cuts
The exchange quickly sparked outrage online because it highlighted a core gripe with Trump’s latest push on election security: the administration argues for stronger protections while having pared back safeguards.
“Trump officials can’t answer simple questions,” one viewer posted.
As the clip circulated, another wrote, “This clown is moving up the ranks of clown car drivers pretty quickly.”
Other critics seized on the moment as proof that the contradiction was irreconcilable.
“Oh ffs, what a pretzel-twisting, mind-boggling answer,” one commenter wrote.”What a blithering idiot,” another critic wrote.
Some pointed directly to the administration’s cuts to CISA.
“Cutting thousands of federal employees goes a long way toward solving important election-security issues! Said nobody ever.”
Others framed Wright’s response as part of a broader pattern.
“The ‘break it then complain it’s broken’ strategy at work again.”
Created during Trump’s first term in 2018 with bipartisan support, CISA serves as the federal government’s primary agency for protecting election infrastructure from cyberattacks and coordinating with state and local election officials. Relations between Trump and the agency deteriorated after then-CISA Director Chris Krebs declared the 2020 election “the most secure in American history,” prompting Trump to fire him on the spot.
The administration has also scaled back or eliminated several election-related cybersecurity initiatives. CISA ended federal support for the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which helped election officials defend against cyber threats, and wound down its partnership with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which provided cybersecurity monitoring and technical assistance to state and local governments.
Federal Cuts Force States to Lean on Contractors, IT Staff
Administration officials say the changes eliminate duplication, save roughly $10 million annually, and free up resources for higher-priority missions. But state election officials have told Congress a contrasting tale: losing those federal programs has pushed them to rely more heavily on in-house IT departments, private contractors, and informal partnerships with other states.
Staffing Cuts Reach Far Beyond CISA
The reductions extend well past the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The administration disbanded the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, the unit that investigated covert foreign influence operations targeting U.S. elections. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence significantly scaled back its Foreign Malign Influence Center, while the State Department shut down its office dedicated to countering foreign disinformation campaigns.
More recently, the White House removed the remaining members of the bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission, leaving the four-seat panel without active leadership.
Trump Ties Cuts to Push for SAVE America Act
The ABC interview followed Trump’s nationally televised speech Thursday night, in which he warned of “shocking vulnerabilities” in America’s election system and urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act.
FactCheck.org, however, concluded that many of the speech’s central claims either lacked supporting evidence or omitted important context. The organization said Trump again suggested the 2020 election had been “rigged” without providing evidence and noted that his own administration’s CISA concluded in 2020 that the election was “the most secure in American history.”
The outlet also said Trump overstated the significance of newly released intelligence documents concerning China and voter data, repeated unsupported claims about large numbers of noncitizens on voter rolls, and portrayed known election-system vulnerabilities without acknowledging that intelligence agencies concluded they would be difficult to exploit on a scale capable of changing election outcomes.
Election experts also disputed Trump’s characterization of several examples he cited, including claims involving California’s vote-counting process and an alleged voter registration fraud scheme in Michigan, saying neither demonstrated evidence that election results had been altered.
