Trump appointee guts anti-terrorism programs (including forcing out 100 scientists who helped detect WMDs) then leaves
I like to think that I follow the news pretty closely, but I had no idea this was happening. How many other programs crucial to our security and to the health of our nation have been gutted by Trump while we are distracted by his daily dumpster fires?
James F. McDonnell, a presidential appointee who over the last two years downsized the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to prevent terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction, has agreed to resign.
McDonnell’s resignation, department sources said, comes at the request of acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and would become effective at noon on Thursday, according to an email McDonnell sent his staff … on Wednesday.
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President Trump appointed McDonnell to posts in 2017 and 2018 at Homeland Security, where he has led the department’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office and its predecessor, the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office.
McDonnell has faced scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats in Congress in response to reports this year by the Los Angeles Times that brought to light his decisions — including his promotion of a scientifically disputed system for detecting airborne anthrax and other infectious agents that could be wielded in a biological attack.
McDonnell announced in November 2018 that he was aiming to install the new detection system nationwide within two years, even though the fluorescent “trigger” technology underlying it had failed repeatedly in testing sponsored by Homeland Security’s scientific staff.
On July 18, The Times also reported that McDonnell had directed the scaling back or elimination of multiple anti-terrorism programs at Homeland Security, which has primary domestic responsibility for helping authorities detect and block WMD-related threats. The article described the gutting of training and drills, including “red team” efforts to instruct federal, state and local officials on how to detect suitcase-sized nuclear devices or radioactive “dirty bombs” hidden on cargo ships.
Among other programs affected was a unit that had helped lead up to 20 WMD-related training exercises each year with state and local authorities. The unit participated in fewer than 10 such exercises last year, and even fewer so far this year, according to internal Homeland Security documents.
The department’s International Cooperation Division also has been disbanded by McDonnell. It had worked closely with foreign counterparts and the United Nations-affiliated International Atomic Energy Agency to track and stop the smuggling of dangerous nuclear materials overseas.
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McDonnell’s decision-making has sparked widespread upheaval among Homeland Security staff specialists. As of mid-2019, more than 100 scientists and policy experts specializing in radiological and nuclear threats had been reassigned or left to take jobs unrelated to their expertise, The Times found, undermining the department’s ability to protect the nation from devastating attacks.
The rock-bottom morale within the offices that McDonnell has led may also have influenced McAleenan’s decision to seek his ouster.
The annual government-wide Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, or “FEVS,” sponsored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, found last year that the McDonnell-led Domestic Nuclear Detection Office ranked last – No. 415 – among similar “subcomponent” offices. …
