{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-leader-schumer-ranking-member-peters-colleagues-raise-alarm-about-trumps-threats-to-send-armed-federal-agents-to-polling-sites-to-intimidate-voters-during-november-elections", "Markey, Leader Schumer, Ranking Member Peters, Colleagues Raise Alarm About Trump\u2019s Threats to Send Armed Federal Agents to Polling Sites to Intimidate Voters During November Elections", "2026-07-28", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Edward J. Markey", "M000133", "www.markey.senate.gov", "markey", "https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Letter Text (PDF)\n\nWashington (July 28, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led 11 colleagues in writing to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth demanding to know whether the Trump administration plans to deploy armed federal law enforcement officers at polling sites during the November 2026 elections, an escalation of the Administration\u2019s assault on free and fair elections that is clearly meant to intimidate voters.\n\nThe letter was signed by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).\n\nBeginning in October 2025, the Democratic National Committee submitted eleven Freedom of Information Act requests seeking records concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement officers to polling places, ballot-drop locations, and election offices. During ensuing litigation, ICE first represented that it had located no responsive records. But earlier this month, after its searches were challenged, ICE acknowledged finding more than 11,000 potentially responsive pages and U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it had turned up almost 117,000 records. These belated disclosures reinforce the fear that the Administration is planning a potentially unlawful, illegal, and unconstitutional intrusion into the November election.\n\nIn the letter, the senators wrote, \u201cIn May, when President Trump was asked whether he would send the National Guard or ICE to polling places in November, he refused to rule it out, responding: \u2018I\u2019d do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.\u2019 And earlier this month, President Trump delivered a prime-time address to the nation in which he repeated outlandish falsehoods about the 2020 election, continuing to sow doubts about voting integrity ahead of the mid-terms. President Trump\u2019s statements, coupled with his repeated threats to invoke the Insurrection Act \u2014 which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence \u2014 only heighten concerns.\u201d\n\nThe senators continued, \u201cCongress has enacted longstanding criminal prohibitions against sending federal personnel to polling places and using federal power to interfere with elections. For example, federal law makes it a crime for a federal official to bring or keep troops or armed personnel at a place where an election is held. Americans should never have to wonder whether the federal government intends to police the ballot box with armed agents. Yet that is precisely what the Trump administration appears to be considering, if not planning. The Administration now has a choice. It can continue to fuel the appearance that it is laying the groundwork for an unprecedented federal intrusion into state-run elections, or it can finally provide Congress and the American people with the transparency they deserve.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers requested the following information by August 11, 2026:\n\nWill any federal law enforcement officers or troops be deployed to or near any polling place or other election sites during the November 2026 election? If so, identify who, where, under what authority, and for what purpose.\n\nWho directed or authorized discussions concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement officers or troops to polling places or other election sites? Identify every meeting or communication concerning this subject involving your Department or agency and the White House, the Executive Office of the President, Stephen Miller, other presidential advisers, or any other federal entity.\n\nProduce all records concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement personnel or troops to polling places or other election sites, including legal memoranda, operational plans, policy guidance, emails, text messages, meeting notes, directives, and communications with the White House or other federal entities.\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-29T07:41:48Z", "2026-07-29T07:42:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-leader-schumer-ranking-member-peters-colleagues-raise-alarm-about-trumps-threats-to-send-armed-federal-agents-to-polling-sites-to-intimidate-voters-during-november-elections"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1421220153570175, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}