Elections on CrossGov.com

CRS Report on Defense Primer, US Special Operations Forces

Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Government Accountability Office issued a report on U.S. Special Operations Forces. The report detailed how these forces are selected, trained, and equipped for special operations in sensitive environments. Congress enacted legislation in 1986 to strengthen SOF’s position in defense planning and budgeting.

Special Operations Forces Structure

U.S. Special Operations Forces are active duty and reserve military components designated as SOF by the Secretary of Defense. These forces are selected, organized, trained, and equipped to conduct and support special operations. Special operations often occur in sensitive environments requiring unique tactics and equipment. These operations can involve time sensitivity, low visibility, or high risk. Operators undergo screening and mission-specific training to gain proficiency. Selected personnel possess regional, cultural, and linguistic expertise.

CRS Report on Israel, 2026 Elections and Government Formation

Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Government Accountability Office report examined changes to Israel’s government following the October 27, 2026, Knesset elections. These changes could affect the country’s future direction and relations with the United States. The Likud party won the most seats, but neither bloc had a clear majority to form a government.

Uncertainty about election results could lead to a power-sharing arrangement. Netanyahu could use renewed U.S.-Israel military action against Iran to pressure rivals into a unity government. Eisenkot’s bloc had influence in power-sharing talks due to potential legislation limiting Netanyahu’s time as prime minister after another election. Before the election, Eisenkot rejected a deal allowing Netanyahu to remain prime minister. The parties in Eisenkot’s bloc considered partnering with the Arab-led Ra’am party for a minority government. Eisenkot reportedly required Ra’am to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Justice Department Charges 48 Noncitizens With Election Crimes in Five States a Week Before the Midterms

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Justice Department said on October 26 that it has charged 48 noncitizens with election-related crimes in California, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York and Nevada. The cases cover illegal voting in federal elections and false claims of US citizenship made to register or vote.

The charges sit in ten federal districts. California accounts for 28 defendants: 13 in the Central District, six in the Eastern District, five in the Northern District and four in the Southern District. Pennsylvania has nine, split between the Eastern and Middle districts. Florida has six, all in the Middle District. New York has four and Nevada one. The release quotes no official and names no investigating agency beyond “federal agents” who interviewed some defendants.

OPM Final Rule Bars Administrative Leave for Federal Employees Serving as Poll Workers

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Office of Personnel Management has written a ban on paid administrative leave for federal employees who serve as poll workers or poll observers into federal regulation. The final rule was published on October 19, 2026, and takes effect November 18.

That is two weeks after the November 3 midterms. For this election, federal employees who want to staff a polling place work under OPM’s current policy, which already says no. Since July 2025 OPM’s template for agency leave policies has barred administrative leave for poll work, “whether that service is partisan or nonpartisan, paid or unpaid.” Employees can still use annual leave, compensatory time, credit hours, a schedule change or leave without pay. The rule moves that position from guidance into regulation, which takes another rulemaking to undo.

Social Security Rewrites Its Records With 17 Million Death Dates and 25 Million Citizenship Entries From DHS SAVE

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Social Security Administration said on October 20 that it has added 17 million missing death dates to its Social Security number records and filled in citizenship for about 25 million more, using DHS’s SAVE service. It is correcting another 8.5 million records with wrong citizenship status. All the figures are the agency’s own. SSA released no breakdown, no error rate and no outside review.

Commissioner Frank Bisignano called the database “our country’s books and records.” SSA says it has corrected nearly 15 percent of all active Social Security numbers since the start of the administration, touching nearly 390 million records in all. It describes the work as the largest clean-up in its 91-year history. The death dates came from SSA’s own systems and from State Department data. SSA repeated the totals in an October 23 release on its fiscal 2026 performance.

Supreme Court Lets New Hampshire Reject Student IDs at the Polls Over a Jackson Dissent

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The US Supreme Court on October 22 let New Hampshire stop counting student IDs as proof of identity for the November 3 election. It stayed a federal judge’s injunction in Scanlan v. Coalition for Open Democracy, No. 26A512, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting.

The order is short and unsigned. It stays the preliminary injunction orders of October 2 and 5 from the US District Court for the District of New Hampshire while the state’s appeal runs in the First Circuit and through any petition for certiorari. The stated reason is timing. Citing Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee (2020), the Court said lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter election rules on the eve of an election, and that the district court had identified nothing that justified departing from that rule.

White Powder Letters Reach Election Offices in at Least Five States as the FBI Warns of Threats to Election Workers

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service are investigating suspicious letters, most of them holding white powder, that reached state election offices in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nebraska in mid-October. Postal inspectors stopped more before delivery. On October 15 the FBI issued a public warning about threats to election workers.

Two letters were opened on Tuesday, October 13. In Louisiana, a letter reached the elections office of Secretary of State Nancy Landry. The employee who opened it was taken to an emergency room as a precaution and the building was cleared for the rest of the day. Testing later found the powder harmless. The same afternoon in Oklahoma, a state elections employee opened a letter with white powder and the building was evacuated.

US Government News Digest for October 26 2026

Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Eight days before the midterms, Washington spent Monday arguing about who gets the last word. The Justice Department is in federal court in Alaska and California trying to shape how ballots are handled and results certified. A judge in Manhattan told the same department it had no right to fire a career prosecutor the way it did. Two senators say the administration is sitting on a surveillance court ruling the law says it should have published six weeks ago.

Census Bureau Proposes Excluding Noncitizens From the 2030 Apportionment Count and Dropping Race and Ethnicity Questions

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Census Bureau has proposed a rule for the 2030 census that would exclude people who are neither citizens nor green-card holders from the population counts used to divide the 435 House seats among the states. It would also drop the questions on race and Hispanic origin. The proposal was published in the Federal Register as document 2026-18481. The comment period has been extended to November 2, the day before the midterms.

DOJ Charges 16 People With Noncitizen Voting as Trump Allies Press for Election Emergency Powers and 1,000 Federal Monitors Deploy

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Justice Department announced charges against 16 people for voting or registering to vote as non-citizens, including four in Pennsylvania. The cases cover elections going back several years. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s department has made non-citizen voting a priority before the November 3 midterms.

Votebeat, a non-profit news site that covers elections, calculated that confirmed non-citizen votes amount to about 0.00024% of ballots cast in recent elections. Studies by state election officials, including Republicans in Georgia and Ohio, have found similar rates. The Department of Homeland Security has said its checks of voter rolls against immigration data found about 250,000 potential non-citizen registrants. Election officials say many such matches turn out to be naturalized citizens whose records weren’t updated.

Georgia Sets a First-Day Early Voting Record of About 185,000 as a Wisconsin Court Rules on Late Mail Ballots

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

About 185,000 Georgians voted on October 13, the first day of in-person early voting, according to unofficial figures from the Secretary of State’s office. That’s more than 50,000 above the first day of the 2022 midterms, which itself set a record.

Georgia has a Senate race between Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and his Republican challenger, and an open governor’s race, both rated competitive. Early voting runs until October 30. Long lines were reported in parts of metro Atlanta, with some voters waiting more than an hour.

Pentagon Clears a Second Destroyer for Bath Iron Works, Reversing Its Own FY2027 Budget Three Weeks Before Collins's Election

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon has approved a second Arleigh Burke-class destroyer for General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine, Roll Call reported on October 13. The fiscal 2027 budget request had funded only one destroyer, within a $65.8 billion shipbuilding request. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg said the yard had shown that “sustained performance is essential.”

The decision still needs money from Congress. The House defense appropriations subcommittee’s bill includes one destroyer. The Senate hasn’t released its bill.

Trump Says a Decision on Iran Is Coming 'Very Soon' as Axios Reports Strike Talks With Netanyahu and the White House Denies Pre-Election Plans

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

“We’ll make a decision on Iran very soon,” the President told reporters at the White House on October 13 before leaving for Alaska. He called Iran a “failed state,” said the war would end “very soon” and oil prices would fall after, and said the November midterms have “no impact” on his approach. At a rally in Ohio he said: “Wait until you see what we do to Iran. We’re going to do a number.”

Federal Pressure on State Elections Is Testing the Boundaries of American Governance

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

An election office needs clear rules, reliable funding and enough time to prepare. A federal policy dispute can unsettle all three before a single voter reaches a polling place. When Washington announces new requirements for registration, ballot handling or voting equipment, state and local officials must determine whether those requirements have legal force, whether funding depends on compliance and whether a court has already suspended implementation. That is a substantial administrative burden in its own right. Election workers still have to run an election while lawyers argue over who is entitled to tell them how.

FCC v. Brown: Supreme Court Weighs Whether Parties Get Candidates' Cheapest TV Ad Rates in the Final Weeks Before the Midterms