Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has raised concerns about the possible presence of FBI agents at polling places during the upcoming November midterm elections, after FBI Director Kash Patel declined to rule out such deployments.
Speaking to MSNBC’s Ali Velshi, Krishnamoorthi said he was concerned that the Trump administration’s increasing concentration of power could be directed toward the elections.
“I’m concerned that this further consolidation of power is going to be used to focus their energies on the upcoming elections where, you know, Kash Patel has not ruled out placing FBI agents at the polls,” Krishnamoorthi said.
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Patel was questioned about the issue during a September 15 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. When Sen. Richard Blumenthal asked whether the FBI would deploy agents to polling places, Patel said the bureau would follow the law and that agents could respond if there was a violation.
“The FBI will follow the law. If there’s a reason to go there because there’s been a violation of the law, we will. Otherwise, we won’t,” Patel said during the hearing.
Patel also said the FBI has election coordinators in all 56 field offices who would oversee election-related activities.Krishnamoorthi said the response had not provided sufficient assurance that FBI personnel would not be present at polling locations.
Velshi, discussing the exchange, said Patel had not clearly ruled out agents being at polling places and described the possibility as potentially intimidating to voters. Krishnamoorthi agreed. “Of course, you know that the DOJ has talked about putting 1,000 election, quote-unquote, monitors at the polling places as well in the coming weeks,” Krishnamoorthi said. “And so people are understandably very, very nervous.”
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The Justice Department has indeed announced plans to deploy about 1,000 federal election monitors during the midterms. The department has historically sent personnel to polling locations to monitor compliance with federal voting-rights laws.
The DOJ has said the monitors are intended to help ensure compliance with federal voting laws and protect voters’ rights. The planned deployment has nevertheless drawn criticism from Democrats and civil-rights groups, particularly amid broader questions about federal law-enforcement involvement in elections.
Krishnamoorthi separately demanded answers from Attorney General Todd Blanche after Patel’s Senate testimony. In a September 17 statement, the Illinois Democrat said Patel had repeatedly declined to provide an unequivocal commitment that FBI agents would not be deployed to polling places during the November elections.
The issue comes as the FBI faces significant leadership changes ahead of the midterms. Andrew Bailey, one of the bureau’s deputy directors, announced his resignation in late September after about a year in the position. Bailey had been involved in election-related investigations during his tenure.
Krishnamoorthi concluded his remarks by encouraging voters concerned about the election environment to cast their ballots early. “Of course, I think the remedy for that for anybody who’s watching out there is vote early,” he said. The midterm elections are scheduled for November 2026, with control of Congress at stake.