National Security Council
The National Security Council is an executive advisory board to the president on matters of national security.
Contents
Composition
The board consists of the president, vice president, the secretaries of state, the treasury, defense, energy, and homeland security, and the national security advisor, the director of the OSTP, the attorney general, and the UN representative.
The national security advisor is a presidential appointment; the office of the national security advisor is organized under the White House Office.
Other senior bureaucrats and servicemembers, such as the director of OMB, are invited to meetings relevant to their domains.
History
Truman established the National Intelligence Authority in 1946 to oversee the Central Intelligence Group. The board consisted of the secretaries of State, War, and Navy, and the chief of staff to the commander in chief.
Succeeding that executive board, the National Security Act established the National Security Council. The chair of the NSRB, which was also established by the act, sat on the council; it would be dissolved within 6 years however.
In 2004, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act established the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to oversee the CIA directly.