8 Things You Should Know About Trump’s Effort to “Take Over” the Midterm Elections

ProPublica reports that Trump's second-term administration has systematically replaced at least 75 career election-security officials with roughly two dozen appointees, many of whom actively worked to overturn the 2020 election or have ties to election-denial movements. The investigation details specific personnel changes across DHS, FBI, and DOJ—including the dismantling of CISA's election security team, elimination of the FBI's public corruption and foreign influence units, and replacement of DOJ voting rights lawyers—and provides named examples like Kurt Olsen (now election security director) and Heather Honey, whose false Pennsylvania ballot claims Trump cited on January 6. ProPublica grounds its reporting in named sources including former government lawyers (John Keller, Derek Tisler from the Brennan Center), official statements, and document review, though the byline author is not visible in the metadata provided. Reuters corroborates the legal pushback against the administration's voter-roll demands, and The Hill reports on broader midterm dynamics; however, ProPublica's specific personnel accounting and internal procedural changes (e.g., 'Team America' meetings, the Fulton County raid sequence with FBI field office leadership) appear unique to this investigation and should be independently verified. Watch for court challenges to federal election mandates, outcomes of DOJ voting-rights investigations in key states, and whether institutional checks on politically motivated election actions remain viable through 2026.