The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security,military,and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House,it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States,and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
Counterterrorism,also known as anti-terrorism,relates to the practices,military tactics,techniques,and strategies that governments,law enforcement,businesses,and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism and violent extremism.
Franklin is a small city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish,Louisiana,United States. The population was 6,229 as of 2024. The city is located on Bayou Teche,southeast of the cities of Lafayette,47 miles (76 km) and New Iberia,28 miles (45 km),and 22 miles (35 km) northwest of Morgan City. It is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area and the larger Lafayette-Acadiana combined statistical area.
Michael Chertoff is an American attorney who was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security to serve under President George W. Bush. Chertoff also served for one additional day under President Barack Obama. He was the co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. Chertoff previously served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit,as a federal prosecutor,and as Assistant U.S. Attorney General. He succeeded Tom Ridge as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security on February 15,2005.
Frances M. "Fran" Fragos Townsend is an American lawyer and business executive who served as Homeland Security Advisor to United States President George W. Bush from 2004 to 2007,and was formerly the executive vice president for corporate affairs,corporate secretary,and compliance chief officer for Activision Blizzard,until September 2022,due to Microsoft acquiring Blizzard for $75 billion. She previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism. In 2008,Townsend joined CNN as a contributor,but later switched over to CBS where she is a national security analyst for them. Townsend was president of the Counter Extremism Project.
Michael E. Leiter is the former director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC),having served in the Bush administration and been retained in the Obama administration. A statement released by the White House announced his resignation,effective July 8,2011. His successor,Matthew G. Olsen,was sworn in on August 16,2011. In September 2017,Leiter joined international law firm Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom in Washington,D.C. as a partner in its national security practice.
Richard A. Falkenrath Jr. served as deputy commissioner of counter-terrorism of the New York City Police Department from 2006 to 2010. He was the third person to hold this position. His predecessors were Frank Libutti and Michael A. Sheehan.
Juan Carlos Zarate is an American attorney and security advisor who served as the deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism during the George W. Bush administration. He is the chairman and co-founder of the Financial Integrity Network,a Washington,D.C.–based consulting firm,and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Matthew Glen Olsen is an American attorney who had served as the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division. He is the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
Kenneth Leonard Wainstein is an American lawyer. He served as the first assistant attorney general for national security,and later as the homeland security advisor to United States President George W. Bush. In 2022 under the Biden administration,he was appointed under secretary of homeland security for intelligence and analysis. He served in this position until 2025.
Alejandro Nicolas Mayorkas is an American attorney and government official who was the 7th United States secretary of homeland security,serving from 2021 until 2025. A member of the Democratic Party,Mayorkas previously served as the director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009 to 2013,and the 6th deputy secretary of homeland security from 2013 to 2016.
Lisa Oudens Monaco is an American attorney who served as the 39th United States deputy attorney general from 2021 to 2025. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Rajesh "Raj" De is an American lawyer and former U.S. government official who later became the managing partner for the Washington,D.C.,office of the law firm Mayer Brown. During the presidency of Barack Obama,he served in three significant government roles—as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy,as White House Staff Secretary,and finally as general counsel of the U.S. National Security Agency.
Elizabeth Neumann is an American former homeland security official. In the Trump administration she served from February 2017 to April 2020 as a senior advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to DHS Secretary John Kelly and Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke,and as DHS Assistant Secretary for Threat Prevention and Security Policy to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen,Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan,and Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf. She served on the Homeland Security Council staff in the George W. Bush administration starting in 2003.
Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader,public servant,educator,and author who served as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor in the Biden administration from 2021 to 2025. She previously served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.
Mitchell Darrow Silber is the executive director of the Community Security Initiative,a partnership between the UJA-Federation of New York (UJA) and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY),funded by The Paul E. Singer Foundation,Carolyn and Marc Rowan,and several other foundations,to help secure local Jewish institutions in the New York region. He is a professional global political risk,intelligence and security analyst and the former director of intelligence analysis at the New York City Police Department (NYPD). He is a regular commentator on political risk and terrorism related issues for both print and broadcast news outlets.
Samantha Erin Vinograd is a former American government official and presently a foreign policy commentator. She served as the Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism,Threat Prevention,and Law Enforcement Policy at the Department of Homeland Security from July 2021 to December 2023.
Robert Peter Silvers is an American lawyer and government official who had served as the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategy,Policy,and Plans.
Troy A. Miller is an American law enforcement official who served as the Acting Commissioner of the United States Customs and Border Protection from 2022 to 2025,a position he previously held between January and December 2021. From December 2021 to November 2022 he served as the Deputy Commissioner.
Paul M. Rosen is an American attorney. He is currently a partner at Latham &Watkins. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security from 2022 to 2024 in the Biden administration.
