Alexander Vindman (Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman criticized incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz’s plan to clear out each “intelligence official” serving in “various departments and agencies” throughout the federal government who is “currently detailed” to the National Security Council (NSC).
Mike Waltz (Credit: Getty Images)
In a post on X, Vindman responded to an interview Waltz had with Breitbart News’s Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle, where Waltz spoke about how intelligence officials serving in various departments and agencies under President Joe Biden’s administration would be “expected to vacate the premises by 12:01 p.m. Eastern” on January 20, when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated.
“Yesterday, President Trump’s National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz @michaelgwaltz, announced a sweeping directive to terminate all national security staffers loaned from other departments and agencies who serve in apolitical, non-partisan senior staff roles,” Vindman wrote.
He continued:
Waltz framed this decision as a means to eliminate Biden-era appointees and enforce absolute alignment with Trump’s policy agenda. Notably, Waltz justified this move by referencing my role in exposing Trump’s abuse of power, which led to his first impeachment. Using my actions as a rationale, Waltz aims to purge scores of professionals from the Department of Defense, Department of State, CIA, and other agencies—not because of their conduct, but due to a demand for blind allegiance to Trump.
Statement on National Security Staff Firings
Yesterday, President Trump’s National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz @michaelgwaltz , announced a sweeping directive to terminate all national security staffers loaned from other departments and agencies who serve in apolitical,…
— Alexander S. Vindman 🇺🇸 (@AVindman) January 10, 2025
Breitbart News’s Matthew Boyle explained how the NSC works:
The way the NSC works is the National Security Adviser oversees a team of political appointees from the president who oversee a wide range of what are called “detailees”—people who work at the various agencies and departments across the federal government who are assigned, or detailed, to work at the White House for a period of time on the NSC in a portfolio in which they demonstrate expertise. These career intelligence officials come from places as wide-ranging as the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the Pentagon, and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and report up to the political appointees atop each major portfolio in the NSC. The NSC has various issue-specific portfolios like counterterrorism and cyber policy as well as regional portfolios focused on things like the western hemisphere or the Middle East or Europe or Asia. The detailees then help coordinate back to the various agencies and departments so the whole federal government executes on the decisions that the president makes.