Rep. Chrissy Houlahan wants Congress to have the final say before any president sends armed federal agents or military personnel to polling places.

Houlahan, who represents Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District including West Chester, West Goshen and East Goshen, introduced the Protect Our Polls Act on Tuesday, Sept. 15, alongside Reps. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, George Whitesides of California and Pat Ryan of New York. Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a Democrat, introduced a Senate version, according to Houlahan's office.

The bill would require the White House to get Congressional approval before deploying troops or armed federal agents to any polling location. It would also force an administration to hand over intelligence, legal justification and deployment plans to Congress at least 48 hours before any such action, along with evidence that state and local authorities cannot handle the threat on their own. The legislation would bar military personnel and federal agencies from accessing election records preserved under federal law.

The bill was introduced 49 days before the Nov. 3 midterm election.

Houlahan said the bill was prompted by a direct exchange she had with a senior military official who would not rule out sending troops to the polls.

"When I asked a senior military official whether troops could be deployed to polling places this November, I could not get a commitment that they would not be," Houlahan said in a statement. "That should alarm every American."

Houlahan's press release did not name the official or identify the hearing. Separately, a Lawfare analysis noted that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth avoided answering when asked whether he would refuse an order to deploy troops to polling places during the midterms.

On the same day, CNN reported that Sen. Peter Welch pressed FBI Director Kash Patel on whether FBI agents would appear at voting locations during a Sept. 15 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Federal law has restricted the deployment of troops or armed federal personnel to polling places since the Civil War era, under 18 U.S.C. § 592. The statute contains a narrow exception for repelling "armed enemies of the United States" that has never been invoked, according to Lawfare's analysis.

The bill introduction came one day after Houlahan and four fellow Pennsylvania House Democrats sent a separate letter to Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Regional Director William J. Ryan. That Sept. 14 letter, according to Houlahan's office, requested information on election cybersecurity threats including cyberattacks, ransomware and foreign influence operations.

The lawmakers cited proposed cuts of $700 million to CISA's budget and the removal of nearly a third of the agency's workforce since early 2025, with election security staff facing the steepest reductions, according to the letter. Ryan was asked to respond by Sept. 25.

No committee hearing or floor vote has been scheduled for the Protect Our Polls Act.