Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth falsely claimed during congressional testimony that President Joe Biden deployed troops to polling stations in 15 states during the 2024 presidential election. Available records and official statements show that claim is inaccurate.
According to Snopes, Hegseth made the statement during House and Senate hearings while discussing the role of military forces in domestic election security. He suggested that Biden had already used troops at polling locations across multiple states during the 2024 election cycle. However, evidence does not support that assertion.
Investigations found that while National Guard personnel were activated in several states during the election period, those deployments were ordered by individual governors rather than the president. Their duties largely involved cybersecurity monitoring, emergency coordination, logistics, and standby support—not staffing or policing polling stations.
Officials from multiple states confirmed that Guard members were not stationed at voting locations. In some cases, personnel worked remotely or from secure government facilities monitoring election-related cyber threats. Other states used Guard members only as communication liaisons with emergency management agencies.
The claim was also undermined by practical inconsistencies. Oregon, for example, conducts elections entirely by mail and does not operate traditional polling stations where troops could be deployed.
Federal law further restricts military involvement in elections. The Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits federal troops from carrying out domestic law enforcement activities, and federal law makes it illegal to bring armed troops to polling places except under very limited circumstances.
Some National Guard support did occur during earlier elections, including limited assistance in 2020 when pandemic-related staffing shortages affected polling operations. But fact-checkers found no evidence that Biden ordered troops to polling stations in 15 states during the 2024 election.
Snopes concluded that Hegseth’s statement falsely conflated routine state-controlled National Guard support operations with federal military deployment at polling sites.
Final Verdict: False
References:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hegseth-biden-polling-stations/
https://www.nbcpalmsprings.com/2026/05/04/fact-check-defense-secretary-pete-hegseths-claims-of-2024-polling-place-troop-deployments-found-false
https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pete-hegseths-chilling-response-to-midterms-question/