The Looming Shadow of Loomer

Far-Right Conspiracy Theorist Directs NSC Cuts

Laura Loomer’s path to the White House has involved previous positions at Alex Jones’ InfoWars, open declarations of being “pro-White Nationalist,” and handcuffing herself to Twitter’s New York office after being banned from the platform. She has no qualifications, no meaningful experience, and is incredibly out of touch with reality - yet her loyalty to Donald Trump has granted her an unimaginable amount of political power compared to the average MAGA influencer. Judging from recent reporting from the New York Times, she may even have power over senior members of the defense and intelligence community.

President Trump reportedly dismissed six members of the National Security Council (NSC) after their loyalty was brought into question by Loomer. It’s unclear what exactly instigated this decision or what is considered “loyalty” in this context, but several sources have identified these terminations as being the results of a meeting between Trump and Loomer (and a supposed list of disloyal members of the administration). The list of dismissed NSC officials includes the Director for Intelligence, Senior Director for International Organizations, and Senior Director for Legislative Affairs. The loss of these individuals excises deep expertise from the NSC and degrades the organizational capabilities of a critical component of the executive branch.

These firings are a sign of how dire things will become within the national security community during Trump’s second term. There will be an immediate chilling effect that will be felt throughout the administration, the military, and the intelligence community. National security professionals will be hesitant to voice dissenting opinions, as there is now a quiet understanding that loyalty to Trump matters more than expertise and qualifications. There is also the possibility that heavy-handed actions like this round of dismissals will lead to more whistleblowers in the future, as normal disagreements in policy discussions increasingly become viewed as signs of disloyalty to Trump. For an administration that has repeatedly attacked DEI initiatives for supposedly putting unqualified people in positions of power, the Trump team allowed a completely unqualified influencer to fire six career intelligence professionals.

As a former member of the NSC myself, I can’t help but feel that these firings are partially a result of my decision to report Trump’s illegal attempt to extort President Zelenskyy, as this sent the message that national security professionals are loyal to their oaths to defend the Constitution over the interests of a single person. Trump and his entourage have a deep fear that people near him will do what is best for the country and won’t bend to his will. Even when the MAGA movement mobilized against me, I knew I had done the right thing. There’s no room for anyone who isn’t a loyalist in this administration, and the pursuit of total loyalty will come at the cost of expertise. This will make the world a less safe place and put millions of Americans in harm’s way. The longer Trump stays in power, the more we will resemble a tin-pot dictatorship from the dustbin of history. As new personnel are appointed to fill these vacant roles, the Senate must hold hearings on why exactly these six individuals were fired.