The elections have changed the political landscape. Our mission continues, and a new responsibility demands our attention. It is a time to pivot.
In our assessment, the November 3 elections have checked the immediate danger of authoritarian consolidation, but the threat persists and the damage to our institutions demands action. The Steady State will continue to warn against threats to American democracy while putting the experience of our more than 465 former senior government officials to work helping the incoming Congress restore effective oversight of the executive branch. We will offer members of Congress and their staff members the expertise needed to investigate abuses, demand accountability, and reassert Congress’s constitutional role. We welcome serious oversight efforts from either party. Our purpose continues: To uphold the rule of law and restore the checks and balances on which constitutional democracy depends.
Since its founding in 2016, The Steady State has brought together former senior officials from America’s national security, homeland security, intelligence, and diplomatic communities. Since Donald Trump’s second inauguration, our organization has grown dramatically, both in membership and in the scope of our activities. Today, we number more than 465 former senior government officials, with an extensive reach through social media, publications, public appearances, and direct engagement with the American people.
Throughout this period, our principal mission has been to warn.
That mission was a natural one for our members. Many spent their professional careers identifying threats to the United States, assessing their significance, and warning policymakers of dangers ahead. We brought those same professional disciplines to the challenge confronting American democracy. Our warnings were grounded in experience. Collectively, our members have spent decades observing authoritarian governments overseas. We have seen dictators and autocrats rise, consolidate power, maintain their grip on societies, and sometimes fall. We understand that authoritarianism is not simply a collection of objectionable policies or inflammatory statements. It is a process, often following recognizable patterns.
In the intelligence profession, we call the observable signs of an emerging threat “Indicators and Warning.” We have applied that discipline to developments here at home, identifying actions and patterns that, based on our professional experience, suggested an accelerating movement toward authoritarian government.
That approach has informed our public statements, our writing, and our more formal analytic assessments. We sought to explain not simply what was happening, but why it mattered and where it might lead.
Our central message was that Americans faced something more consequential than the usual disagreements over parties, personalities, or public policies. At stake was the continued vitality of constitutional democracy itself. We face an existential threat.
We also argued that recognizing the danger was not enough. Americans needed to organize, engage, and form alliances, including across traditional political and ideological divides. We called this our “strange bedfellows“ approach: the recognition that people who disagree profoundly about policy can nevertheless stand together in defense of the constitutional system that makes those disagreements possible.
Tuesday Changed the Landscape
The elections of November 3 mark a turning point.
Americans delivered a powerful electoral rebuke to Donald Trump and his administration. In our view, the results represented something larger than a partisan victory. They demonstrated that Americans remain willing and able to use the democratic process to resist the concentration and abuse of power.
Countless organizations, community organizing groups, town and neighborhood circles, individuals, and diverse coalitions worked from different perspectives toward the protection of American democracy. We were proud to be but one organization among the many, contributing what we could from our particular vantage point, experience and expertise.
We don’t presume to know precisely what motivated every voter. Elections reflect many concerns, including economic conditions, public policies, and the performance of elected officials. Nevertheless, we believe Tuesday’s results sent an unmistakable message about the limits of executive power and the continuing strength of American democratic institutions.
The Receding Threat
The immediate threat of unchecked authoritarian consolidation has, in our assessment, receded significantly. But receding does not mean disappearing.
The forces that brought American democracy to this point have not vanished. Donald Trump remains president, with the powers of the Office and those which he has assumed. The individuals and institutions that supported the erosion of constitutional norms remain active. The damage already inflicted on governmental institutions will not automatically repair itself.
To use a metaphor, the forces of authoritarianism have been pushed back from the walls of our democratic fortress. But they remain outside those walls, capable of regrouping and renewing their assault. That reality defines the first part of our mission going forward.
First, The Steady State will not abandon its warning function.
We will continue to monitor developments, identify indicators of authoritarian behavior, and provide the public with assessments grounded in the professional experience of our members.
We will continue to speak, write, publish, and engage.
We will continue to distinguish between ordinary policy disagreements and actions that threaten constitutional governance, the rule of law, or the independence of institutions.
And we will continue to remind Americans that democracy is not self-executing. Its survival depends upon citizens and institutions willing to engage and, when necessary, defend it.
Tuesday’s elections were an important victory for constitutional democracy. They were not the end of the struggle.
Second, We Will Pivot From Warning to Action
The election has also created a new opportunity, and, with it, a new responsibility.
The pivot is straightforward: The Steady State should use its extraordinary reservoir of governmental experience to help the incoming Congress exercise the constitutional oversight responsibilities that have been so badly neglected during the second Trump administration.
Article I of the Constitution establishes Congress as a coequal branch of government. Its responsibilities extend far beyond passing legislation and appropriating funds. Congress has a fundamental duty to oversee the executive branch, examine its conduct, investigate abuses, and ensure that federal agencies operate within the law.
That responsibility is not optional. It is essential to the constitutional balance of powers.
For too long, meaningful congressional oversight has been diminished or abandoned. The consequences have been profound, particularly in the national security, intelligence, homeland security, and law enforcement communities.
The incoming Congress will have an opportunity to begin restoring that oversight. Many newly elected members will arrive in Washington on January 3 with limited experience in congressional investigations or the complex machinery of the executive branch. Even experienced legislators will face formidable challenges. Time will be short. Resources will be limited. The subjects requiring examination will be numerous and technically complex. And there is every reason to anticipate that the executive branch may resist congressional efforts to obtain information and accountability.
This is where The Steady State can make a distinctive contribution.
An Extraordinary Reservoir of Experience
Our more than 465 members have served across the federal government, often at its highest levels. They have worked in the intelligence agencies, the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and State, the White House, and numerous other institutions.
They know how these organizations are structured, how they operate, what their legal authorities permit, and where the lines of accountability are supposed to run. Many of our members have also served on Capitol Hill, including on committees responsible for intelligence, national security, homeland security, foreign affairs, and government oversight.
Some have served on both sides of the relationship, as executive branch officials subject to congressional oversight and as congressional staff responsible for conducting it. That combination of experience is particularly valuable.
We know what effective oversight looks like. We know how agencies are supposed to function. We understand the distinction between legitimate executive discretion and unlawful conduct. We know the questions that need to be asked, the documents that may provide answers, and the witnesses who may possess essential knowledge.
We also understand the practical difficulties of conducting oversight, particularly when the executive branch is unwilling to cooperate.
Our objective is to put that knowledge to work.
Assistance to Congress
Congress must determine its own priorities and exercise its own constitutional judgment. Our role is to help make that work more informed, effective, and consequential.
We envision a broad range of assistance to members of Congress and their staffs:
We can provide briefings on the organization, authorities, responsibilities, and operations of federal agencies.
We can help develop oversight agendas, identify priorities, and formulate investigative strategies.
We can assist congressional offices in understanding how executive branch departments and agencies operated constitutionally before the second Trump administration, what changes have occurred, and which changes warrant particular scrutiny.
We can provide technical and subject-matter expertise on intelligence operations, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, national security decision-making, information sharing, constitutional authorities, and countless other subjects.
We can identify potential witnesses and, where appropriate, provide experienced witnesses for congressional hearings.
We can help congressional staff understand which questions are most important, what information they should seek, and how to evaluate the answers they receive.
We can assist in identifying and recruiting experienced congressional staff. Indeed, some of our members may be willing to return to government service themselves, bringing their experience directly to Capitol Hill.
Whom Do We Intend to Help?
Our initial outreach will naturally include members of Congress with whom we have already established relationships.
During the 2026 election cycle, The Steady State endorsed approximately 85 congressional candidates, roughly 63 of whom were incumbents, with the balance challenging for seats.
Our endorsements were limited to individuals whose professional backgrounds included service in the national security community, broadly defined. They were people from what we have called “our world,” individuals whose experience and understanding of public service aligned with the qualifications we considered important.
Many of those candidates were successful. We hope that both returning members and newly elected members will look to us as a resource.
And our assistance will not be limited to those we endorsed, nor to any one party.
Indeed, some of the members who may benefit most are newly elected legislators who have little or no background in national security or congressional oversight. They will confront complicated agencies, unfamiliar legal authorities, and difficult questions of institutional accountability. We can help them understand that landscape and begin their work effectively.
Our objective is to make relevant professional expertise available in service of effective congressional oversight.
Oversight, Not Policy
An important distinction must be made. The Steady State does not intend to become an organization advocating particular national security, homeland security, or foreign policy outcomes.
There will be many difficult policy choices before the new Congress. Reasonable people will disagree about immigration, defense spending, intelligence priorities, foreign assistance, and countless other issues.
But our institutional focus will be different.
We intend to help Congress exercise its constitutional responsibilities, not tell Congress which policies it should adopt. We are concerned with whether agencies are obeying the law, whether public officials are exercising their authorities properly, whether senior officials are engaging in corrupt and criminal activities, whether Congress is receiving the information it needs, and whether the constitutional system of checks and balances is functioning as intended.
That distinction is fundamental. Oversight is not a tool for one party to investigate another. It is a permanent constitutional responsibility, regardless of which party controls Congress or the presidency.
Restoring that principle is central to our mission.
And What About Republicans?
Some will undoubtedly ask whether The Steady State is prepared to work with Republican members of Congress.
The answer is unequivocally yes.
We have long argued that defending constitutional democracy requires cooperation across traditional political divides. Our “strange bedfellows” approach was not a temporary electoral tactic. It reflects a conviction that the Constitution belongs to all Americans, regardless of party.
If Republican members of Congress are prepared to participate in serious oversight, to insist upon accountability, and to help restore Congress’s role as a coequal branch of government, we will welcome, applaud, and assist those efforts.
We hope they will. If they do, we are prepared to support them. National security oversight has historically benefited from bipartisan cooperation, and the restoration of that tradition would be an important achievement.
At present, we see limited evidence that such cooperation will emerge on a substantial scale. But we remain hopeful, and we will judge opportunities for cooperation by the seriousness of the work, not by party affiliation.
For nearly a decade, The Steady State has sought to bring the experience of former national security professionals to the defense of American constitutional democracy.
Our central message has been one of warning: That mission continues. We will continue to speak and write about constitutional issues and when constitutional principles are threatened. And we will continue to encourage Americans to engage, organize and defend the institutions of their democracy.
Tuesday’s elections demand us to do more. The incoming Congress has a chance to begin repairing the constitutional balance between the legislative and executive branches: Reasserting its oversight responsibilities, demanding accountability, and restoring institutional practices essential to the rule of law.
None of that will be easy. The challenges are enormous, the time is limited, and the resistance may be substantial.
We possess something that can help: the accumulated experience of hundreds of Americans who have devoted their professional lives to serving their country and understanding how its government works.
The election was an important beginning, not an ending.
The warning continues. And the work of restoration begins.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 450 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.