When President Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election, America’s democratic institutional safeguards held—but only by a slim margin. If confronted with similar challenges today, those safeguards and the individuals who upheld them would mostly be absent, according to a ProPublica investigation. At least 2025 career officials who previously served in federal agencies tied to election integrity and security are no longer there. Two dozen appointees—including many who either actively worked to overturn the 2020 election or are associates of such individuals—have been hired to replace them. Once-fringe figures now wield significant influence. As the midterms near, current and former officials along with election security experts voiced worries that Trump appointees who have promoted debunked conspiracy theories on voting are now positioned to shape perceptions of the election’s integrity. “It’s tough to refute false claims that carry the federal government’s seal,” noted Derek Tisler, counsel and manager for the Brennan Center for Justice’s elections and government program. I definitely worry about the harm that might inflict on voters’ confidence. Here are some key points to know about the Trump administration’s efforts to, as the president stated, “take over” the midterms. Read the full investigation here. After losing the 2020 election, Trump urged federal officials to find evidence that he had actually defeated Joe Biden. Cybersecurity specialists from the Department of Homeland Security informed Attorney General William Barr that the election fraud allegations they examined were unfounded. Barr then informed the president of the unwelcome truth: The election had not been hacked. Barr was among numerous federal officials—most appointed by Trump—who declined to yield to the president’s demands, which grew more intense in the weeks before January.
