Braxton Taylor
Trump-Musk’s ‘constitutional crisis’
Trump’s spy agency downsizing goes well beyond just the CIA: The Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have all offered their workforces a “deferred resignation” offer similar to that sent recently to federal civilian agencies through the Office of Personnel Management, the spy agencies confirmed Wednesday. The CIA and NSA have also offered their workforce a similar deal. Workers must decide today—Feb. 6—whether to accept the deal, which aims to shrink the federal workforce, Nextgov reports.
Background: President Donald Trump has long railed against the intelligence community, accusing it of being weaponized against him, his campaign and his allies.
Fine print: The agreement purports to enable employees who resign by today to remain on the payroll without working but with full benefits until the end of September. But it also says employees might be called back to work “in rare circumstances”; they also give up the right to redress if the government reneges, according to a Feb. 4 memo from OPM. The memo asserts that the offer is legal; others, including Democratic lawmakers, have raised doubts. More, here.
Developing: Musk’s DOGE agents have widened their access to Americans’ sensitive personnel data, to include “Treasury and State Department officials in sensitive security positions,” alarming security officials and Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Washington Post reported Thursday morning.
A member of Musk’s team is also now working at the Department of Veterans Affairs, “where they have been given access to contracting systems as well as information on VA operations and information technology systems,” Military-dot-com reported Wednesday. An official from the VA claimed that Musk’s surrogate is “specifically focused on identifying wasteful contracts, improving VA operations and strengthening management of the department’s IT projects…and will not have access to veterans’ or VA beneficiaries’ data.”
The alarming precedent: “Musk and his DOGE team already took control of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, by shutting out workers, freezing funding and removing leadership, depriving millions of people around the world of sometimes life-saving aid,” Patricia Kime reminds readers. More on the VA, here.
Update: Trump has no legal authority to dismantle USAID, according to a recent report (PDF) from the Congressional Research Service.
In particular, “Because Congress established USAID as an independent establishment (defined in 5 U.S.C. 104) within the executive branch, the President does not have the authority to abolish it; congressional authorization would be required to abolish, move, or consolidate USAID,” the report’s first page reads.
The White House can “propose and execute structural changes related to USAID and State, including shifting certain functions from USAID to State,” the research service says. But the White House is required to notify and consult with “appropriate congressional committees” ahead of such changes, CRS writes.
One possible wrinkle in Musk’s war on USAID: The agency’s IG was investigating Musk’s Starlink’s contracts in Ukraine, an outlet called The Lever reported Tuesday.
The gist: USAID said in an announcement two years ago that it sought “to determine how (1) the Government of Ukraine used the USAID-provided Starlink terminals, and (2) USAID monitored the Government of Ukraine’s use of USAID-provided Starlink terminals.”
Gizmodo writes: “Musk has called the agency ‘evil’ and a ‘criminal organization,’ though the fact that USAID was investigating the Starlink activities may suggest ulterior motivations for the billionaire’s vitriol. It’s unclear what the Starlink probe’s status is right now.”
“Musk’s ‘criminal’ remarks are funny since it increasingly looks like Musk’s DOGE activities represent breaches of federal law and, therefore, may be construed as rampant criminal behavior,” Gizmodo’s Lucas Ropek reports.
Read more: “Musk’s DOGE efforts pose a ‘constitutional crisis,’ experts warn,” Nextgov reported Wednesday.
Additional reading:
Welcome to this Thursday edition of The D Brief, a newsletter dedicated to developments affecting the future of U.S. national security, brought to you by Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston. Share your tips and feedback here. And if you’re not already subscribed, you can do that here. On this day in 1934, far-right protesters in Paris tried to overthrow the French government, illustrating some of the political rot and infighting that accumulated over decades and gradually paved the way for the rapid collapse of the Third Republic shortly after the Nazis’ invasion of 1940.
Around the world
N. Korean ballistic missiles appear to be getting more accurate, Ukrainians tell Reuters. Since December, North Korean-made ballistic missiles launched by Russian forces against Ukraine have been more accurate than previous salvos, landing within 50 to 100 meters of their targets, two senior Ukrainian sources said. This “suggests North Korea is successfully using the battlefield to test its missile technology, the sources said.” Read on, here.
Panama rejects the Trump administration’s claim that U.S. ships can transit the Panama Canal without paying. On Tuesday, the State Department claimed officials in Manama had agreed to allow U.S. ships to use the canal without paying transit fees. State’s X account tweeted as much on Wednesday evening. The Panamanian government, however, contradicted that claim—though it said it was open to dialogue. CNN and Reuters have more.
U.S.-led naval exercise off the Philippines draws Chinese ire. On Wednesday, forces from Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the U.S. conducted a “multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity” within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, 7th Fleet officials told AP.
Beijing complained about the exercise in the South China Sea, which China claims in defiance of international rulings.
Coming up: “More exercises involving the U.S., Japan and France were planned for later this week in the Philippines Sea, which China does not claim,” AP wrote, here.
US, Philippines defense secretaries talk. Pete Hegseth affirmed U.S. fidelity to its treaty ally, while Gilberto Teodoro Jr. told reporters after the conversation that Manila would continue to defend the country’s 200-nautical mile EEZ against Beijing’s aggressive actions. Bloomberg has more, here.
Around the Defense Department
Trump revoked another former appointee’s security detail. It’s Mark Esper, whom Trump appointed as his second (confirmed) defense secretary, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Context: “Mr. Esper was protected by federal officials because of ongoing threats from Iran. Four other officials from Mr. Trump’s first administration facing Iranian threats also had their details pulled. The others are: John R. Bolton, Mr. Trump’s third national security adviser; Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state; Brian Hook, one of Mr. Pompeo’s top aides and a specialist on Iran; and the retired Gen. Mark A. Milley, whom Mr. Trump picked to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
Op-ed: “If Iranian Assassins Kill Them, It Will Be Trump’s Fault,” writes former Naval War College professor Tom Nichols, who argues that the president’s vindictiveness undermines national security: “No one who works in defense or national-security affairs can assume that, when Trump orders them to cross America’s many enemies in the world, he will protect them from foreign vengeance. Trump has now made clear that he will abandon people who have taken risks in the service of the United States—even those who were following his own orders—if they happen to displease him.” Read on, here.
Related:
- “Trump administration evicts former Coast Guard leader from her house with 3 hours notice,” reports NBC News, adding: “Trump fired Linda Fagan, the first female Coast Guard commandant, on his second day in office. A Trump official told her she had three hours to leave her house on Tuesday.”
- Hegseth’s public Venmo reveals contacts. “The defense secretary’s friends list on the app is a who’s who of Washington bigwigs, defense contractors, and healthcare executives,” writes the Daily Beast.
And lastly: “Are We in a Pentagon Wars 2.0?” asks Dan Grazier of the Stimson Center, writing Monday. Grazier criticizes “troubling” Biden-era policies in the Pentagon’s weapons testing community that “will blur the line between developmental and operational testing.”
In an email introducing the report, Grazier wrote: “The effect will be to diminish the independence of operational testing which would make it more difficult to gain accurate information about the performance of new weapons before they are placed in the hands of the troops. Many people fought too hard more than four decades ago to create the operational testing office just to see its effectiveness eroded with a muddled policy change now. As President Trump continues to flesh out his administration, his eventual nominee for Director, Operational Test & Evaluation will have the opportunity to roll back these policy changes before they can take full root.” Read, here.
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