United States National Security Council

United States National Security Council
Agency overview
Formed	1947
Agency executives	Barack Obama, Chairman, President of the United States Vice President of the United States, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, National Security Advisor, Others as necessary
Parent agency	Executive Office of the President of the United States
Website
NSC Website

President Barack Obama at a NSC Meeting in the Situation Room. Participants include Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright, DNI Dennis Blair, White House Counsel Greg Craig, CIA Director Leon Panetta, Deputy National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, NSC Advisor Gen. James "Jim" Jones, and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

The White House National Security Council (NSC) in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Since its inception under Harry S. Truman, the function of the Council has been to advise and assist the president on national security and foreign policies. The Council also serves as the president's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies. The U.S. Council has counterparts in the national security councils of many other nations.

History

The National Security Council was created in 1947 by the National Security Act. It was created because policymakers felt that the diplomacy of the State Department was no longer adequate to contain the USSR in light of the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States.^[1] The intent was to ensure coordination and concurrence among the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force and other instruments of national security policy (such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), also created in the National Security Act).

On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama merged the White House staff supporting the Homeland Security Council (HSC) and the National Security Council into one National Security Staff (NSS). The HSC and NSC each continue to exist by statute as bodies supporting the president.^[2]

The decision process inside the structure has become less and less formal, but influence of the Council has become stronger and stronger. Detailed history of the National Security Council under each Presidential administration since its inception can be found at:

• History
  • 1947–1953
  • 1953–1961
  • 1961–1963
  • 1963–1969
  • 1969–1974
  • 1974–1977
  • 1977–1981
  • 1981–1989
  • 1989–1992
  • 1993–present

Membership

The National Security Council is chaired by the president. Its regular attendees (both statutory and non-statutory) are the Vice President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (or National Security Advisor).

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the statutory military advisor to the Council, the Director of National Intelligence is the statutory intelligence advisor, and the Director of National Drug Control Policy is the statutory drug control policy advisor. The Chief of Staff to the President, Counsel to the President, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy are also invited to attend any NSC meeting. The Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget are invited to attend meetings pertaining to their responsibilities. The heads of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, are invited to attend meetings of the NSC when appropriate.

Staff

• Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs: Thomas E. Donilon
  • Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and Deputy National Security Advisor: John O. Brennan
    • Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security: Heidi E. Avery
  • Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor: Denis McDonough
    • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications: Ben Rhodes
      • Spokesman: Mike Hammer
    • Deputy Assistant to the President, Deputy White House Counsel and Legal Advisor to the National Security Council: Mary DeRosa
    • Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs: Michael Froman
    • Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Council Chief of Staff and Counselor: Brooke D. Anderson
      • Special Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary of the National Security Council: Nate Tibbits
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Strategic Planning and Institutional Reform: Derek Chollet
      • Special Assistant to the President, Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan: Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute
      • Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Arms Control and WMD, Proliferation and Terrorism: Gary Samore
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs: Samantha Power
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Global Development, Stabilization and Humanitarian Assistance: Gayle Smith
      • Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Non-Proliferation: Dan Poneman
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense: Christine Wormuth
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Intelligence Programs: Mike Epperson
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism: Nick Rasmussen
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs: Dan Restrepo
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Europe: Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russia and Eurasian Affairs: Michael McFaul
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Central Region: Dennis Ross
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East and North Africa: Daniel B. Shapiro
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Africa: Michelle Gavin
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Gulf States, Iran and Iraq: Puneet Talwar
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South Asia: Anish Goel
      • Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asia: Jeffrey Bader
      • Senior Director for Global Engagement: Pradeep Ramamurthy

Authority

The National Security Council was established by the National Security Act of 1947 (PL 235 – 61 Stat. 496; U.S.C. 402), amended by the National Security Act Amendments of 1949 (63 Stat. 579; 50 U.S.C. 401 et seq.). Later in 1949, as part of the Reorganization Plan, the Council was placed in the Executive Office of the President.

High Value Detainee Interrogation Group

The High Value Detainee Interrogation Group reports to the NSC.^[4]

Kill Authorizations

A subset of the NSC may authorize US citizens to be killed. The members of the group that make the decision to kill are unknown, as are the rules which govern their decisions or the laws under which they operate. It is also unknown, outside of Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been placed on the kill list. There is no public record of its existence or its operations. The precise role the president plays in ordering or ratifying a decision to target a citizen is uncertain.^[5]

See also

• National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counter-Terrorism
• National Security Medal
• Iran Contra
• Targeted killing
• Tower Commission

References

• NSC page at the White House website
• Story on the NSC in Foreign Policy journal.
• Annual Report To Congress On White House Office Staff; Executive Office of the President, Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Further reading

• Ivo H. Daalder and I.M. Destler, In the Shadow of the Oval Office: Profiles of the National Security Advisers and the Presidents They Served—From JFK to George W. Bush Simon & Schuster; 2009, ISBN 978-1-4165-5319-9.
• Karl F. Inderfurth and Loch K. Johnson, eds. Fateful Decisions: Inside the National Security Council. Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-19-515966-0.
• David J. Rothkopf, Running The World: the Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power, PublicAffairs; 2006, ISBN 978-1-58648-423-1.
• Journey to the Center of the World: U.S. National Security Council – Arzın Merkezine Seyahat: ABD Ulusal Güvenlik Konseyi – Article on US NSC in Turkish
• Cody M. Brown, The National Security Council: A Legal History of the President's Most Powerful Advisers, Project on National Security Reform (2008).
• M. Kent Bolton, U.S. National Security and Foreign Policymaking after 9/11: Present at the Re-Creation, Rowman & Littlefield; 2007, ISBN 978-0-7425-4847-3.

External links

• Official National Security Council website
• Records of the National Security Council (NSC) in the National Archives
• White House Office, National Security Council Staff Papers, 1948–1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
• Homeland Security Watch (www.HLSwatch.com) provides current details on the NSC as it pertains to homeland security.

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