William Pulte’s temporary appointment as Acting DNI will have effects that outlast his tenure: retribution, politicized intelligence access, personnel purges, and reduced confidence in the legal certifications that support key intelligence surveillance operations. You can destroy a lot of stuff in 210 days. You can also ensure long-lasting damage to the entire Intelligence Community if […]
The campaign against 60 Minutes was never really about one interview or one lawsuit. It is about neutralizing one of the few remaining institutions capable of holding presidents accountable before a mass audience. There has been, understandably, a lot of coverage of the death of 60 Minutes. As many people and outlets as possible should […]
The controversy over Trump’s anti-weaponization fund is not an isolated case. It is part of a broader pattern in which money connected to presidential power is being raised, controlled, and spent through structures that operate outside traditional mechanisms of public oversight. Trump’s $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund has drawn outrage for good reason. Acting Attorney General […]
[PDF VERSION AVAILABLE HERE] WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Steady State, an organization of more than 400 former national security, intelligence, diplomatic, military, law enforcement, and homeland security officials, opposes President Trump’s selection of Bill Pulte as Acting Director of National Intelligence. The appointment of unqualified political loyalists to oversee security and intelligence services is the […]
A new book, Common Sense: Take 2, A Call to Renew Democracy, contends that the United States is confronting not simply a political crisis but a deeper crisis of democratic capacity. Written by Russ Travers, a career public servant across multiple administrations who retired as Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, focuses on the […]
The dignity of Arlington stands in stark contrast to proposals that confuse remembrance with self-promotion. As I have on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend for the last nine years, last Sunday, May 24, 2026, I went to Arlington Cemetery to visit my parents’ grave. I actually go to the cemetery fairly frequently; it’s a […]
In this episode of The Steady State Sentinel, John Sipher speaks with veteran intelligence and counterterrorism official Russ Travers about the state of American democracy, the national security system, and his forthcoming book, Common Sense Take 2. Travers reflects on his 45-year career across the intelligence community, from warning about systemic intelligence failures before 9/11 […]
Most Americans know something is wrong with our democracy. Fewer understand how much is failing, why it is happening, or what ordinary citizens can do about it. That is why Steady State’s Russ Travers wrote Common Sense: Take 2. This week, we begin a five-week series walking through this book’s central themes. We we will […]
PDF We assess that President Trump’s chronic need to reward loyalists and appease dictators is a primary driver of America’s path toward authoritarianism. Trump’s creation of a $1.776 billion slush fund to reward anyone claiming they were “persecuted” by the Biden Administration suggests he may see a need to remind people who have proven willing […]