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In a country that rightly reveres its military, we should all agree on one thing: our cadets at West Point deserve to be shaped by the very best. That’s what made the whiplash decision this week [ [link removed] ] to rescind Jen Easterly’s appointment as Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair of West Point’s Social Sciences Department so shocking—and so dangerous.
Easterly, a West Point alum herself and one of the most accomplished national security leaders of our time, had been invited to help shape the minds of the next generation of military officers. But after far-right conspiracy theorist and Trump influencer Laura Loomer publicly questioned Easterly’s loyalty to Trump via tweet, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll intervened and ordered West Point to cancel the appointment they had just announced.
The result wasn’t just a personal insult to Easterly. It was a disgrace to West Point—and a direct attack on the apolitical tradition that gives the military its moral and constitutional foundation.
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Who Is Jen Easterly?
Jen Easterly is a decorated Army combat veteran, a Rhodes Scholar, a former senior National Security Agency (NSA) and White House official, and most recently the head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). She’s served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, including as Special Assistant to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
But more than her résumé, it’s her ethos that sets her apart.
I know this firsthand. Jen hired me to serve on her team at the National Security Council’s Counterterrorism Directorate during the Obama Administration. There, we helped shape and implement U.S. counterterrorism policy—marshaling the vast departments and agencies of government to develop and operationalize guidance from the President.
If global jihadist threats like ISIS seem like a distant memory instead of an ongoing worldwide scourge, you have Jen Easterly to thank. She helped lead the massive, whole-of-government campaign that ultimately put ISIS on the path to defeat.
In the long list of relentless national security professionals who drove our nation’s counterterrorism success against al-Qa’ida and ISIS over the last two decades, Jen Easterly is near the very top.
What I Learned from Jen Easterly
Jen held us to a standard that didn’t bend with politics or popularity. From her, I learned lessons that shaped the way I lead—and the way I serve. They’re the same lessons West Point cadets deserve to learn:
Excellence is the standard—and how we get there matters. Jen demanded exceptional performance, not just in outcomes, but in how we worked: with integrity, humility, and rigor. The process mattered as much as the result.
Hard problems require diverse input. Jen reminded us that no one solves national security challenges alone. The toughest problems demand collaboration across disciplines, openness to different perspectives, and the humility to listen before leading.
Great leaders build great teams. Jen built and fostered high-trust, high-performance teams where people showed up for each other. If your teammate was struggling, you helped. If you had insight that could improve the mission, you shared it.
The mission comes first. Jen taught us that public service is about doing your best for the American people—not for recognition, not for credit, and certainly not for loyalty to a person or party. The honor was in the work itself.
That’s why so many of us who served under Jen in the Obama administration continued our service into the Trump administration. We weren’t there for a president. We were there for the mission—service to the American people. And we brought Jen’s lessons and values with us.
A Dangerous Purge of Public Servants
Laura Loomer—a far-right activist, conspiracy theorist, social media influencer, and now-Trump’s self-appointed “loyalty enforcer” [ [link removed] ]—targeted Easterly for having recently served as the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) during the Biden administration. Her “offense”? Protecting Americans and critical infrastructure during a Democratic administration.
Never mind her long career serving during Republican administrations. Never mind her battlefield service. Never mind her track record of excellence. In the MAGA universe, the only qualification that matters now is blind loyalty to Trump.
Easterly is not the first national security official to be cancelled or “Loomered,” and she unfortunately won’t be the last.
Earlier this year, Loomer called for the firing [ [link removed] ] of National Security Council staff and targeted officials [ [link removed] ] at the National Security Agency.
Loomer may be an unserious online provocateur, but the real danger lies with those in power—like Driscoll, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Trump himself—who spinelessly surrender to her performative bullshit.
This isn’t random. It’s a coordinated purge of America’s patriots—led by fringe voices, but enabled by those in power. And it’s undermining the apolitical foundation of our national security institutions.
Loyalty to country is no longer enough. In Trump’s second term, you must show fealty to him—or risk being branded as disloyal by the MAGA machine and face cancellation, humiliation, or exile.
These aren’t just political games. They have real-world consequences. They make America less safe.
By forcing out our most capable, experienced, and apolitical public servants, Trump is gutting the very institutions we rely on to deter adversaries, prevent attacks, and respond to crises. This isn’t theoretical—it’s degradation of our national security in real time.
The American people deserve a government that works for them—not a king. And our military deserves leaders like Jen Easterly—leading, teaching, inspiring—not being blacklisted by online mobs.
West Point’s Future Alumni
West Point is a special place for my family. My grandfather was an Army physician there at the tail end of World War II. His service there brought our family to the Hudson Valley, where he cared for cadets, instructors, officers, and their families—first in uniform, and later in private practice in Highland Falls.
West Point’s Social Sciences Department has a history of drawing from the best minds in public service—including Easterly, who had already served as an instructor there before, and others like Brent Scowcroft, Gen. (Ret.) Barry McCaffrey, and Gen. (Ret.) David Petraeus, a mentor to Easterly and one of her most vocal supporters. Here, America’s future military leaders learn about American politics, economics, and international affairs—providing the foundation to make well-informed decisions that affect the troops they will lead and perhaps even the nation itself.
I know Jen would have offered the same care to West Point cadets my grandfather once did—but in this case, profound care for the minds and character of America’s future military leaders.
That’s why this decision is painful.
West Point cadets deserve to learn the same lessons from Jen Easterly on duty, leadership, honor, and service—just as my colleagues and I once did.
And our nation would have been stronger for it.
Trust in Our Military Is Starting to Fray
The military has long held a sacred place in American life—not just because of its awesome might and capabilities, but because of its mission: to serve the Constitution, not a political party or a strongman. It earns the public’s trust precisely because it is nonpolitical.
But that trust is now at risk.
Politicizing our armed forces or purging public servants who won’t bend the knee weakens the very institutions that keep us safe. It erodes morale. It undermines readiness and trust. It blurs the line between patriotism and partisanship. And it sends a dangerous message to future leaders: that loyalty to a man or party matters more than loyalty to the Constitution.
We cannot allow that message to take root—at West Point or anywhere else.
Jen summed it up best in her own response [ [link removed] ]:
As a lifelong independent, I’ve served our nation in peacetime and combat under Republican and Democratic administrations. I’ve led missions at home and abroad to protect all Americans from vicious terrorists, rogue nations, and cybercriminals. I’ve worked my entire career not as a partisan, but as a patriot—not in pursuit of power, but in service to the country I love and in loyalty to the Constitution I swore to protect and defend, against all enemies.
But this isn’t about me. This is about something larger.
It’s about the sacred trust we place in those who wear the uniform—and the damage threatened when that trust is eroded by partisanship. The U.S. military—including its academies—must remain an institution above politics, grounded in service to the Constitution. When outrage is weaponized and truth discarded, it tears at the fabric of unity and undermines the very ethos that draws brave young men and women to serve and sacrifice: Duty, Honor, Country. We must guard against the corrosive force of division—and stand firm in defense of these values that should bind us together.
Duty. Honor. Country.
Jen Easterly isn’t just an exemplary national security leader. She’s a model of what service should look like. And West Point cadets—and America—deserve leaders like her now more than ever.
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