Beltway Confidential

When the revolving door harms national security

By Timothy P. Carney

Published February 12, 2021 8:58pm ET

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When the revolving door harms national security — FILE - This June 6, 213 file photo shows the sign outside the National Security Agency (NSA) campus in Fort Meade, Md. The NSA has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the intelligence agency broad new powers in 2008, The Washington Post reports. In one case, telephone calls from Washington were intercepted when the city's area code was confused with the dialing code for Egypt. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) | Patrick Semansky

Washington’s revolving door, whereby policymakers and other government officials cash out and put their public service experience and connections to work for private interests, has always been corrupting to our democracy. But it’s also harmful to our national security.

When U.S. cybersecurity officials cash out to private firms, and those private firms go to work for foreign governments, they are making the U.S. vulnerable by sharing our secrets with U.S. adversaries.

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