Cybersecurity & Tech Executive Branch

Lawfare Daily: Adam Chan on the FCC’s Growing Role in National Security

Scott R. Anderson, Brandon L. Van Grack, Adam Chan, Jen Patja
Wednesday, September 10, 2025, 7:00 AM
Why has the FCC's role in national security role grown?
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For today’s episode, Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson and Contributing Editor Brandon Van Grack sit down with Adam Chan, the first National Security Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to discuss the FCC’s increasingly important role in U.S. national security policy.

Together they discuss the origins of the FCC’s role in national security, how and why it has grown in an era of major power competition, and several of the initiatives they currently have underway. 

Since recording, the FCC has taken further action on one such issue: the problem of “bad labs.” You can read their press release here.

This episode is part of the special “The Regulators” podcast series, which features conversations with senior officials working at the intersection of national security and the economy.

To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.

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Scott R. Anderson

Scott R. Anderson

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Scott R. Anderson is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow in the National Security Law Program at Columbia Law School. He previously served as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State and as the legal advisor for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
Brandon L. Van Grack

Brandon L. Van Grack

BVanGrack
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Brandon L. Van Grack is a partner and co-chair of the National Security and Crisis Management practices at Morrison & Foerster LLP. He is a former senior national security official at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he served as Chief of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit, Senior Assistant Special Counsel to Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division, Trial Attorney in the Counterintelligence & Export Control Section, and as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Adam Chan

Adam Chan

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Adam Chan is the Director of the FCC Council on National Security. He also clerked on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Before clerking, he worked as a National Security Legal Fellow for the US House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. When studying at Columbia Law School, he was a Student Contributor to Lawfare. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Second Circuit or any Judge there, the Select Committee or any Committee Member, or any entity or organization with whom the author is affiliated.
Jen Patja

Jen Patja

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Jen Patja is the editor of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security, and serves as Lawfare’s Director of Audience Engagement. Previously, she was Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics and Deputy Director of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier, where she worked to deepen public understanding of constitutional democracy and inspire meaningful civic participation.
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