Foreign policy & defense
National Security Council
The President's forum for coordinating foreign policy and defense, created in 1947. Its staff, led by the national security adviser, is not Senate-confirmed.
In full
Statutory members include the President, Vice President, and the Secretaries of State and Defense, with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Director of National Intelligence as advisers. The NSC staff runs the interagency process that produces most foreign policy decisions, and because it sits in the White House it is largely insulated from congressional testimony.
Also written as: NSC
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.