Democracy & Elections

Creating Insecurity

Paul Rosenzweig
Friday, January 13, 2017, 5:02 PM

In the middle of the inauguration, with 5,000 members of the DC National Guard deployed on duty, someone (who?) has decided that the right move is to fire the Commanding General of the Guard. That's correct. According to the Washington Post, as of 12:01 PM on January 20, Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, the Guard's commander, is out of a job.

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In the middle of the inauguration, with 5,000 members of the DC National Guard deployed on duty, someone (who?) has decided that the right move is to fire the Commanding General of the Guard. That's correct. According to the Washington Post, as of 12:01 PM on January 20, Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, the Guard's commander, is out of a job. If the terrorist attack happens at 12:10 PM, at least one component of the response will be under new, less-experienced leadership. I get the idea that the transition means people lose their jobs -- but this is cutting off the head to spite the nose, or some such. This transition could happen on January 21st, or 22nd, without any issue.

[UPDATE: The Trump transition team has denied that this is its doing. Appears this may have been a bureaucratic screw up, but who knows? Either way -- a really bad idea.]

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Paul Rosenzweig

Paul Rosenzweig

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Paul Rosenzweig is the founder of Red Branch Consulting PLLC, a homeland security consulting company and a Senior Advisor to The Chertoff Group. Mr. Rosenzweig formerly served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Homeland Security. He is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University, a Senior Fellow in the Tech, Law & Security program at American University, and a Board Member of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy.

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