The head of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Markwayne Mullin, publicly supported Donald Trump's unproven claims of election fraud at a White House press conference on Friday, July 17, 2026. This came one day after Trump gave a televised primetime speech using a report from DHS as the basis for his allegations of widespread cheating in elections. The Guardian

At the press conference, Mullin said DHS found 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote across four states: California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada. He later posted letters on social media to the top election officials in those states, saying DHS found people whose name, date of birth, address, and Social Security number matched a noncitizen in government records. Mullin also said 28,000 noncitizens were found on voter rolls across more than 20 states using a DHS tool called SAVE, which checks whether someone is a U.S. citizen. The Guardian

Experts are already questioning how DHS arrived at the 250,000 number. David Becker, who leads the non-partisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the government has not explained its methods. He also pointed out that the 28,000 figure is only 0.04% of the 68 million eligible voters in those states, a tiny fraction. The Guardian

State election officials are disputing the findings. Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania's Republican secretary of state, said voters in Pennsylvania must prove who they are before voting and that noncitizen voting is extremely rare. The Guardian

Mullin also repeated a threat to take away federal grant money from states that do not adopt DHS election security measures. How this would actually work remains unclear and is a source of tension between the federal government and state election officials. The Guardian

A report from DHS's internal watchdog, published in July 2026, found that the department was understaffed and poorly organized. The report was delayed by three government shutdowns during the 2026 fiscal year, which together lasted more than half the year. DHS OIG

The broader context here is that DHS is dealing with its own problems at the same time it is trying to take on a big new role checking state voter rolls. With so much work time lost to shutdowns, it is unclear whether the department can carefully and accurately compare data across multiple states. In the United States, states have their own constitutional authority over elections, and the federal government cannot simply tell them what to do. When the federal government uses money as a tool to pressure states into following its rules, it tests where the lines of power actually fall. The result of this standoff will likely shape how much power the executive branch can exercise over state elections without Congress passing a law to authorize it.