The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum 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.
Daniel Ray Coats is an American politician,attorney,and diplomat. From 2017 to 2019,he served as the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party,he served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1989 to 1999 and again from 2011 to 2017. He was the United States Ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2005,and a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1989. Coats served on the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence while in the U.S. Senate.
Thomas Joseph Ridge is an American politician and author who served as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003,and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. A member of the Republican Party,he was the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001 and a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995.
The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a senior,cabinet-level United States government official,required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) and to direct and oversee the National Intelligence Program (NIP). All IC agencies report directly to the DNI. The DNI also serves,upon invitation,as an advisor to the president of the United States,the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council on all intelligence matters. The DNI,supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI),produces the President's Daily Brief (PDB),a top-secret document including intelligence from all IC agencies,handed each morning to the president of the United States.
The United States Department of Justice National Security Division (NSD) handles national security functions of the department. Created by the 2005 USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization,the division consolidated all of the department's national security and intelligence functions into a single division. The division is headed by the Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) is the civilian national intelligence component of the United States Department of Homeland Security and one of two statutory members of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) within DHS,the other being Coast Guard Intelligence. It is the only member of the IC tasked with providing intelligence to State,Local,Tribal and Territorial (SLTT) governments,and private sector entities,and developing national intelligence products from information collected by SLTT entities.
Matthew Glen Olsen is an American attorney who has served as the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division since 2021. He is the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
David Peter Pekoske is an American government official and retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral who has served as the seventh administrator of the Transportation Security Administration in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2017. He served as the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security from April to November 2019 and again from January to June 2021. From January 20,2021 to February 2,2021 he served as acting secretary of homeland security,during the Senate confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas. Pekoske retired with 33 years of active military service in 2010 as the 26th vice commandant of the Coast Guard.
Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas is a Cuban-American lawyer and politician who has been serving as the seventh United States Secretary of Homeland Security since February 2,2021. During the Obama administration,he also served in the Department of Homeland Security,first as director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (2009–2013),and then as deputy secretary of DHS (2013–2016).
John Lee Ratcliffe is an American politician and attorney who served as the Director of National Intelligence from 2020 to 2021. He previously served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 4th district from 2015 to 2020. During his time in Congress,Ratcliffe was regarded as one of the most conservative members. Ratcliffe also served as Mayor of Heath,Texas,from 2004 to 2012 and acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas from May 2007 to April 2008.
David J. Glawe was the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis from January 2017 to May 2020 and is currently the President and CEO of the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
John Charles Demers is an American attorney who served as the assistant attorney general of the National Security Division. An appointee of President Donald Trump,he served under both,President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. John Demers also served as acting United States Attorney General for a few hours following the resignation of the previous acting United States Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen at noon on January 20,2021,until President Joe Biden signed an executive order naming Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources and Administration Monty Wilkinson as acting United States Attorney General later that day.
Michael Kevin Atkinson is an American attorney. He worked for the United States Department of Justice for approximately 15 years,before becoming the second Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. He assumed office on May 17,2018.
Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections was a matter of concern at the highest level of national security within the United States government,in addition to the computer and social media industries. In 2020,the RAND Corporation was one of the first to release research describing Russia's playbook for interfering in U.S. elections,developed machine-learning tools to detect the interference,and tested strategies to counter Russian interference. In February and August 2020,United States Intelligence Community (USIC) experts warned members of Congress that Russia was interfering in the 2020 presidential election in then-President Donald Trump's favor. USIC analysis released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in March 2021 found that proxies of Russian intelligence promoted and laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about Joe Biden "to US media organizations,US officials,and prominent US individuals,including some close to former President Trump and his administration." The New York Times reported in May 2021 that federal investigators in Brooklyn began a criminal investigation late in the Trump administration into possible efforts by several current and former Ukrainian officials to spread unsubstantiated allegations about corruption by Joe Biden,including whether they had used Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani as a channel.
Rear Admiral Kenneth Bernard is an American public health physician and expert on biodefense and health security policy. He served at the George W. Bush White House from 2002-2005 as Special Assistant to the President for Biodefense and as Assistant Surgeon General.
Joe Biden assumed office as President of the United States on January 20,2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
