#National Security

62 entries

Branches (5)

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

The secret federal court that approves government surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes

Office of the National Cyber Director

The White House office that coordinates federal cybersecurity policy and strategy

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

The Senate's chief oversight committee, with jurisdiction over DHS and federal government operations

The Executive Office of the President

The White House staff, OMB, the NSC, and the councils that let one person run the executive branch

The National Security Council

The President's forum for foreign policy and defense decisions, and the staff that coordinates them

Departments (27)

Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response Reorganizing

The HHS agency that prepares for pandemics, bioterrorism, and disasters and manages the Strategic National Stockpile

Bureau of Industry and Security

The Commerce Department agency that controls exports of sensitive technology and runs national security tariff investigations

Combatant Commands

The eleven unified commands through which the President and Secretary of Defense direct American forces around the world

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

The DHS agency that defends federal civilian networks and helps protect the nation's critical infrastructure from cyber and physical threats

DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis Reorganizing

The Homeland Security intelligence office that shares threat information with state, local, tribal, and private partners

DHS Science and Technology Directorate

The Homeland Security research arm that develops and tests technology for border, transportation, cyber, and biodefense missions

DOE Office of Science

The Energy Department office that is the largest federal funder of basic research in the physical sciences and runs ten national laboratories

Maritime Administration

The Transportation Department agency that supports the U.S. merchant marine, shipbuilding, ports, and the sealift reserve fleet

Missile Defense Agency

The Pentagon agency that develops systems to detect and destroy incoming ballistic and hypersonic missiles

National Institute of Standards and Technology

The Commerce Department laboratory that keeps the nation's measurement standards and sets technical standards from cybersecurity to AI

National Reconnaissance Office

The agency that designs, builds, launches, and operates the nation's spy satellites

National Security Agency

The intelligence agency that intercepts foreign communications and protects the government's most sensitive networks

National Security Division

The Justice Department division that handles terrorism, espionage, and intelligence surveillance cases

Office of Environmental Management

The Energy Department office cleaning up radioactive and hazardous waste left by decades of nuclear weapons production

Office of Foreign Assets Control

The Treasury office that administers and enforces U.S. economic sanctions

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The government's emergency stockpile of crude oil, stored in salt caverns on the Gulf Coast

The Department of Defense

The largest employer on earth: the Pentagon, three military departments, the combatant commands, and a budget near 900 billion dollars

The Department of Energy

Mostly a nuclear weapons agency: the warheads, the national laboratories, the cleanup, and the energy research

The Department of Homeland Security

The newest cabinet department: borders, immigration, aviation security, disaster response, the Coast Guard, and the Secret Service

The Joint Chiefs of Staff

The senior uniformed leaders who advise the President and Secretary of Defense but command no troops

The National Laboratories

Seventeen government-owned, contractor-run research centers born from the Manhattan Project

The National Nuclear Security Administration

The agency that designs, builds, and certifies the nation's nuclear weapons and powers its nuclear navy

The five-sided headquarters of the Department of Defense in Arlington, Virginia, and a shorthand for the military establishment itself

The Transportation Security Administration

The agency that screens every airline passenger and bag in the country, about 2.5 million people a day

The United States Secret Service

Protector of the President and investigator of financial crimes, founded to fight counterfeit money

The United States Space Force

The newest and smallest service: satellites, launch, missile warning, and the GPS signal the world runs on

U.S. Border Patrol

The federal law enforcement agency that patrols the land borders and coasts between official ports of entry

Agencies (9)

Atomic Energy Commission Dissolved

The civilian commission that controlled U.S. nuclear weapons production and promoted and regulated nuclear power from 1947 until it was split in two in 1975

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

The independent board that oversees safety at the Energy Department's nuclear weapons sites and recommends improvements to protect workers and the public

Department of War Dissolved

The original cabinet department for the Army, created in 1789 and replaced in 1947 by the Department of the Army within the new national military establishment

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Reorganizing

The independent, bipartisan board that reviews federal counterterrorism programs to ensure they protect privacy and civil liberties

Selective Service System

The independent agency that keeps a registry of young men who could be drafted into military service in a national emergency

The Central Intelligence Agency

The nation's principal foreign intelligence service: human spying, all-source analysis, and covert action abroad

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence Reorganizing

The head of the intelligence community: 18 agencies, one budget, and the President's Daily Brief

U.S. Agency for Global Media Reorganizing

The independent agency that oversees Voice of America and other government-funded international broadcasters

War Production Board Dissolved

The World War II agency that directed the conversion of American industry to war production and allocated scarce materials from 1942 to 1945

Offices & Roles (4)

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The highest-ranking U.S. military officer and the principal military adviser to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

The head of the CIA, who manages foreign human intelligence collection and covert action and reports to the President through the Director of National Intelligence

Federal Employee Unions Reorganizing

The labor organizations that represent federal workers in bargaining over working conditions, under a 1978 law that bars strikes and bargaining over pay

National Security Advisor

The President's top White House aide on foreign policy and national security, who runs the National Security Council staff and coordinates the agencies

Processes (12)

Classification and Security Clearances

The system that marks national security information as Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret, and the background investigations that decide who may see it

Continuity of Government

The plans, laws, and secret facilities designed to keep the federal government functioning if a catastrophe kills or incapacitates its leaders

Declarations of War and AUMFs

Congress's power to declare war, used formally 11 times, and the authorizations for use of military force that have replaced declarations since World War II

Economic Sanctions

The financial and trade restrictions the United States imposes on foreign governments, companies, and individuals, administered mainly by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control

National Emergencies

How a presidential declaration unlocks more than a hundred special powers, and why so many emergencies never end

National Security Decision-Making

How the President makes foreign policy and defense decisions through the National Security Council system of principals, deputies, and interagency committees

Presidential Directives and National Security Memoranda

The often-classified directives presidents issue through the National Security Council to set foreign, defense, and intelligence policy, renamed by nearly every administration

The 2026 Venezuela Operation

The January 2026 U.S. military raid that struck targets in Caracas and captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, and the war powers fight that followed

The Draft and Selective Service

The history of military conscription in the United States, its end in 1973, and the registration system that remains in place for men ages 18 to 25

The Nuclear Football and Command Authority

The briefcase that follows the President everywhere and the system that gives the President sole authority to order the use of nuclear weapons

The President's Daily Brief

The highly classified daily intelligence summary prepared for the President and a few top officials, produced by the intelligence community since the 1960s

Who decides when the United States goes to war: Congress's power to declare it, the President's command, and the long contest between them

Principles (1)

The Imperial Presidency

A term popularized in 1973 for the growth of presidential power beyond constitutional limits, especially in war and secrecy, and the recurring debate it named

Documents & Cases (4)

Homeland Security Act of 2002

The law that created the Department of Homeland Security by merging 22 agencies, the largest reorganization of the federal government since 1947

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004

The law that followed the 9/11 Commission's recommendations by creating the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center

National Security Act of 1947

The Cold War law that created the CIA, the National Security Council, an independent Air Force, and the Secretary of Defense

Presidential Succession Act

The law, last rewritten in 1947, that sets the order of officials who would act as President if both the presidency and vice presidency were vacant

All Tags

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