DNC Sues Federal Government Over Alleged Unanswered FOIA Requests About Agents at Polls

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) sued the Trump administration on March 10 over its alleged failure to respond to 11 public records requests on whether federal agents or troops could be deployed to polling places ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The DNC filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Departments of War, Justice (DOJ), and Homeland Security (DHS), alleging all three agencies violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by missing statutory response deadlines.

“The DNC will stand on the side of voters and use every tool in our arsenal to stop voter suppression and intimidation before it can even begin,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a March 10 statement.

The party’s litigation director, Daniel J. Freeman, submitted the 11 FOIA requests in October 2025, according to the suit and copies of the requests.

They sought all records from Jan. 20, 2025, onward concerning the deployment, posting, or positioning of federal law enforcement and military personnel near polling places, ballot drop boxes, and election offices—including during early voting, on Election Day, and through certification.

The requests covered the FBI, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, the DOJ’s Criminal Division, and the DOJ’s Office of Information Policy, as well as Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Protective Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), DHS headquarters, the National Guard Bureau, the U.S. Northern Command, and War Department headquarters.

Nearly five months passed without a substantive response from any of the 11 agencies, the DNC claimed in the complaint.

The War Department did not respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times.

The DNC filed the requests amid a series of statements it said raised concern about federal interference in the 2026 midterms. In a January 2026 interview with the New York Times, President Donald Trump said he regretted not ordering the National Guard to seize voting machines in swing states after the 2020 election.

“Well, I should have,” the president told the New York Times.

The suit also cites comments by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a Feb. 6 briefing, when asked whether the president was considering having ICE agents at polling places in November.

When asked if she could guarantee ICE would not be at polling locations, Leavitt said: “I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November. I mean, that’s frankly a very silly hypothetical question. But what I can tell you is I haven’t heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations. It’s a disingenuous question.”

The Justice Department disputed the characterization of the requests going unanswered.

“The DNC is squandering their already scarce resources on frivolous lawsuits that will have no impact on voters in November,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

“Baseless conspiracy theories like this are probably why recent reporting about the DNC describes the organization as ‘dysfunctional.'”

DHS said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times: “DHS was actively working on this FOIA request until the most recent DHS shutdown. If Democrats want the FOIA to be processed, they must reopen DHS. FOIA’s are not legally considered an essential function during a shutdown.”

The DNC’s complaint acknowledges that the DOJ’s Office of Information Policy sent letters of response to the requests, stating that they would be placed in the complex processing track.

The lawsuit also cited changes to the Justice Department’s Election Day monitoring program. The complaint alleges that the Civil Rights Division’s November 2025 monitoring in California and New Jersey departed from historical norms by targeting locations selected by state Republican parties and deploying a senior political appointee to polling places in heavily Latino communities.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time the monitoring was part of an effort to raise transparency at the polls, and therefore, faith in the electoral process.

“We will commit the resources necessary to ensure the American people get the fair, free, and transparent elections they deserve,” she said.

The DNC also cites federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 592, which prohibits bringing armed forces to polling places to keep the peace.

The complaint details varied levels of alleged agency non-response. The National Guard Bureau allegedly did not acknowledge the DNC’s request.

The War Department’s Office of the Secretary told the DNC in February that a document search was underway, estimating completion in six months. The FBI invoked a 10-day statutory extension in November, then went silent.

The DNC said it plans to use any records obtained to prepare legal and voter-education responses before November.