IC Oversight & Authorities — 2026-05-15

ODNI Names Two Officials to Lead Intelligence Coordination on 2026 Midterm Election Threats

BLUFFilling this role with two DNI-controlled officials, while leaving the Foreign Malign Influence Center dismantled, signals that election-threat warnings through the 2026 cycle will be tightly managed rather than independently surfaced.

ODNI recently named Dave Mastro and James Cangialosi to jointly serve as election threats executive for the 2026 midterm cycle, according to a congressional source and a second person familiar with the matter, first reported by The Record. Mastro serves on the National Intelligence Council; Cangialosi is deputy director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. ODNI spokesperson Olivia Coleman confirmed both officials are part of the office's election integrity team and said ODNI is providing "robust briefings" on par with prior election-year efforts. Both outlets noted the role had gone unfilled for months following a restructuring last summer that shifted election threat responsibilities from the Foreign Malign Influence Center to the NIC and NCSC.

Analysis
The dual appointment resolves the vacancy but does not restore the Foreign Malign Influence Center Congress created for this purpose, per a single underlying report confirmed by an ODNI spokesperson. Both NIC and NCSC report directly to DNI Gabbard, preserving leadership control over threat framing through the 2026 cycle, a structure the appointments confirm rather than correct. This year's Worldwide Threat Assessment omitted foreign election threats for the first time in roughly a decade, and CISA has shed a third of its workforce, including election security staff. That pattern indicates deliberate institutional narrowing, not administrative delay. Splitting the role across NIC and NCSC could combine all-source assessment with counterintelligence expertise in ways the FMIC was not structured to deliver.

2 sources

ODNI assigns two officials to lead intelligence coordination on election threats - Nextgov/FCW
Intelligence office names 2 officials to coordinate election security efforts ahead of 2026 midterms - Government Executive