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Defending Norms by Defending Norms
One of the proudest days of my life was, oddly enough, January 20, 2009. It's the day I lost my last full-time job. At 11:59 AM, I was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Hom... -
Intelligence Officers Won’t Exit En Masse During the Trump Administration
Former intelligence analyst Edward Price dramatically resigned from CIA last week in an op-ed in the Washington Post—complete with a video critique that has gone viral on social media. Is Mr. Price’s dep... -
A Closer Look at Congressional Foreign Travel
On Monday, Paul Singer at USA Today reported new data on the burgeoning practice of congressional foreign travel. According to Singer, federal legislators spent more government funds venturing abroad in ... -
DHS’s Joint Task Forces: The Next Chapter
As Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson instituted some necessary reforms to help mature the Department. Many of those reforms were part of the Unity of Effort initiative he kick... -
Bannon in Washington: A Report on the Incompetence of Evil
Thank you, Steve Bannon. I mean that sincerely. I’m sleeping better because of you. -
Public Opinion on Trump's Travel Ban
Writing for the New York Times in December 2015, Peter Spiro argued that candidate Trump’s proposed religious-based immigration ban—although reprehensible—may pass constitutional muster because of the co... -
Backgrounder: Senators Introduce Bill to Restrict NSC Membership
On Thursday, February 2, Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced legislation to restri... -
DoD Exempts Cyber from Trump’s Hiring Freeze
On Wednesday, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memo that clarifies how the Department of Defense (DoD) will implement President Trump’s executive order to freeze all civilian hiring across all de... -
Breathe Easy: Rick Ledgett’s Retirement is Not a Political Protest
Late Friday, word came out of NSA that the highly-respected Deputy Director Rick Ledgett would be retiring in the spring. Understandably, people wondered whether this was the first indication of trouble ... -
Best <s>Military Intelligence Foreign Policy</s> Political Advice: The Problem With National Security Presidential Memorandum 2
In 2012, I witnessed a scene that has been on my mind this week: then-Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough reprimanded a less experienced staffer for merely referencing the ongoing reelection... -
House of Cards: Building Our National Security on the Alt-Right’s Alternative Threats
In November, I cautioned that then-President-elect Trump’s appointment of Breitbart CEO Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist and Michael “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL” Flynn as his national security adv... -
Is Steve Bannon’s Role on the National Security Council Actually Unprecedented?
In response to outcry over President Trump’s reorganization of the National Security Council—and particularly Steve Bannon’s elevation to the NSC and his permanent invite to the NSC’s Principals Committe...
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