Genuinely believe Donald Trump's purge of the NSC -- more than 60 staffers (or 1/3 of the whole NSC) have been cut over the last 6 months -- is one of the under-reported stories in Washington and the mishandling of #coronavirus. A few thoughts below. 1/x
The NSC’s downsizing appears to be part of Trump’s wider revenge campaign against what the president has reportedly called “snakes” in Washington. It makes sense to start with the NSC, because it’s the epicenter of government. 2/x
And there was a justifiable reason to cut the staff—just about everyone in Washington agreed the modern NSC had become too big. Barack Obama’s staff had over 400 members, more than half of whom worked on policy. 3/x
Although Robert O’Brien, Trump’s 4th Natl Security Adviser, claimed the cuts were about streamlining government. O’Brien’s began trimming staff just as the report by a whistleblower became public and Congress began its investigation. 4/x
The purge’s true purpose was made clear by one of its last victims. Less than 48 hours after the U.S. Senate acquitted Trump, O’Brien had Alex #vindman, who testified against Trump, escorted off the White House grounds on February 7th. 5/x
Though O'Brien claimed Vindman's departure was his own call, Trump retweeted this post just as Vindman was escorted out: 5.1/x
A snake hunt at the NSC and around the rest of the U.S. government is cause for concern, but O’Brien’s cuts reveal something even more disturbing about how much Washington has changed under Trump. 6/x
The size, scope, and speed of O’Brien’s downsizing would be unthinkable for previous national security advisers, who worried about risk for a living and thus wanted as strong and dedicated a staff as could be managed. 7/x
O’Brien seems more worried about the risk of leaks against the president than the risk of being too shorthanded to meet the myriad security challenges facing the country. 8/x
With the purge, he’s sent the signal that the staff’s loyalty is more important than its quality (or quantity), which means fealty also trumps national security. 9/x
With the downsizing, O’Brien has put himself in a terrible position. His clumsy spin on the cuts—he claimed, “We are not a banana republic”— has tarred his public credibility. 10/x
And, if something goes wrong, he’ll be blamed by just about everyone—including Trump—despite his smaller staff. Moreover, if (or when) Trump turns on him O’Brien will have fewer people to lean on for help. 11/x
After gutting your staff in a snake hunt, it’s much harder to fight back whenever you’re accused of being a snake. 12/x
Why would anyone so dramatically act against his or her own interests? The answer is that the normal rules of bureaucratic politics no longer apply. According to Washington Bureaucracy 101, where someone stands depends on where he or she sits. 13/x
Following that logic, one would expect O’Brien, who had little Washington experience when named national security adviser in September, to boost his influence with a strong and robust staff. 14/x
That doesn't mean a giant staff -- but a good one, one that's got his and the president's back. 14.1/x
That’s why even for those of us who have advocated shrinking the staff—in a history of the NSC published last year, I argued it was too big to be managed effectively—O’Brien’s quick decision to launch a drastic cut was surprising and seemed contrary to his interests. 15/x
But as we're reminded again, in Trump’s Washington, power depends not on where you sit but on what you’re willing to do to please the man sitting at the head of the Situation Room table. The purity test starts at the top. 16/x
O’Brien is not the first to bend his knee to Trump, but his pledge of allegiance and purge of the staff will ultimately undermine the NSC’s principal mission: protecting the country and its way of life.. 17/x
The mishandling of coronavirus is latest example: Trump &O'Brien undermined the teams that focused on potential pandemics and their effects. VP Pence is now reinventing that capability on the fly. Making Trump happy has made it harder to protect the country and our health. 18/x
A purge at the NSC and elsewhere also sends a bad message to experts: go along or else. What qualifies someone to be a snake? Does speaking truth on science make you a snake? Those questions make people less likely to raise their hands in meetings/labs. 19/x
A purge at the NSC risks getting much bigger -- never forget that the wider Watergate scandal started with a snake hunt at the NSC -- one of the first wiretaps was on an NSC staffer. It grew from there. 20/x
Even worse: demanding loyalty at the NSC or anywhere else in government does far more than cut staffers. As Fukuyama has argued, America’s nonpolitical, functional bureaucracy has long defended the country against corruption and promoted the rule of law. 21/x
By purging the NSC bureaucracy to please Trump, O'Brien is risking one of the most important things it was designed to protect: America’s democracy. 22/x
For more on this. See my piece “Enacting Trump’s Revenge Campaign” 23/23
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
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