CongresswomanStephanieMurphyfilesbilltoremoveStephanBannonfromthe

NationalSecurityCouncil
ByThrichaSaintil

On Wednesday U.S. Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy proposed a bill

on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives that would essentially
remove Stephen Bannon from the National Security Council.

Bannon,aformerNavysurfacewarfareofficerwhohasworkedininvestmentbanking,
asaHollywoodproducerandmostrecentlyasCEOofBreitbartNews,andnowasenior
WhiteHouseadviser,wasappointedbyTrumptoapermanentseatonthecouncil
whichadvisethepresidentonmattersofnationalsecurityandforeignpolicywhileat
thesametimedemotingtheDirectorofNationalIntelligenceandtheChairmanofthe
JointsChiefsofStaffsothattheyonlyattendmeetingsrelatedtotopicslimitedtotheir
specificroles.

TheappointmentisascontroversialasBannonhimself.Federallawmandatesthat
membersofthecouncilmustbecomposedofonlyCabinetmembersandother
departmentheadsthatareappointedwiththeadviceandconsentoftheSenate.Since
noanylegislativebodyhasnotconfirmedBannon,hisappointmenttotheCouncilis
illegal,accordingtoTitle50oftheU.S.Code,Section3021.

Murphy'sproposedlegislationwillhavetwoprovisions:thefirstistoensurethatno
individualwhose"primaryresponsibilityispoliticalinnature"isassignedtothecouncil
orauthorizedtoattendNSCmeetings;and,toexpresstheviewofCongressthatthe
DirectorofNationalIntelligenceortheChairmanoftheJointsChiefsofStaffshould
haveastandinginvitationtoattendPrincipalCommitteemeetings.

Murphy'slegislationwouldalsomakeittoughforBannontoretainhispositiononthe
NSC.ThebillarguestopreventanyWhiteHouseemployeewhoseprimaryor
predominantresponsibilityispoliticalinnaturefrombeingdesignatedasacommittee
memberorregularlyattendingitsmeetings.

ThesecurityoftheAmericanpeopleshouldbemoreimportantthanpartisanpolitics,
Murphysaidassheintroducedthebill.

AsaformernationalsecurityspecialistattheDepartmentofDefenseandacurrent
memberoftheHouseArmedServicesCommittee,Icantellyouthelastplacepartisan
politicsbelongsisinnationalsecurity,shesaid.Itisreasonableandcommonplacefor
presidentstodecidewhoattendssecuritymeetings,butIstronglybelievetheDirectorof
NationalIntelligenceandtheChairmanoftheJointChiefsofStaffshouldhavea
standinginvitationtoattendallPrincipalsCommitteemeetingsgiventheirimportanceto
nationalsecurityandexpertise.
Mybillwillhelpdepoliticizenationalsecuritysothatweneverjeopardizethesafetyand
securityoftheAmericanpeople.

MurphyisarepresentativeofFlorida'sDistrict7,whichcoversallofSeminoleCounty
andmuchofnorthernOrangeCounty,includingdowntownOrlando,Maitland,Winter
Park,andtheUniversityofCentralFlorida.