As our nation marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, we should not only remember the horror of that day but the core lessons from that tragedy: A well-run government is vital to keep us safe in a profoundly dangerous world.
In the aftermath of the attacks, the 9/11 Commission found that the government had information regarding the threat but those in charge repeatedly ignored the warning signs. Known terrorists were not placed on watch lists, intelligence was not shared, intercepted communications were not translated in time. Part of the problem also included not having key people in place, with important national security positions left vacant or filled late.
In response, our leaders built stronger intelligence-sharing mechanisms, strengthened counterterrorism capabilities, and created the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to coordinate the work of the intelligence agencies as well as stood up the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
One of the important takeaways was not just that America needed more intelligence, more surveillance, or new coordinating agencies but that our national security depends on professionals who can connect the dots, challenge assumptions, and speak truth to power.
As a new report released this week by my organization, the Partnership for Public Service, demonstrates, President Donald Trump has recklessly pursued a far different approach, filling key national security jobs with political loyalists instead of experts, removing senior military, intelligence and cybersecurity professionals and shrinking national security institutions. In the process, Trump is making the nation less prepared to detect and respond to threats, and less safe than it was before 9/11.
The Pentagon, for example, is headed by former television host Pete Hegseth, who had no experience running a large organization and whose tenure has coincided with an unprecedented purge of experienced military leaders. In February 2025, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chief of Naval Operations, and many other senior officers were simultaneously fired. All told, it has been reported that Hegseth has fired or blocked the promotions of more than 80 generals and admirals, representing about 10 percent of the military’s top officers and stripping the military and the country of vital experience and expertise.
With the recent resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, the military’s largest service is now operating without its top civilian leader, a Senate-confirmed top general, a confirmed Army general in charge of operations, and a confirmed commander of Army troops in Europe.
Amid this upheaval, the country is mired in a troubling war with Iran. Warnings about this war were ignored, military stockpiles of key precision munitions and missile interceptors are now running low, and the Pentagon is seeking billions of dollars in supplemental funding to keep the department funded through the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.
At the FBI, Director Kash Patel, a former podcast personality, worked as a federal prosecutor and in national security roles during the first Trump administration but had never run a large organization before taking charge of the FBI, which has roughly 35,000 employees and a multi-billion-dollar budget. Patel has purged dozens of agents and analysts, including individuals in the elite counterintelligence unit.
Many of those shown the door contributed to earlier investigations of the president and the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The FBI Agents Association has warned that the firings have increased the nation’s vulnerability at home and abroad.
CISA, the nation’s civilian defender against digital intrusions, has lost a third of its workforce during the Trump administration, including senior leaders. This comes at a time of escalating cyberattacks from hostile governments, including Iran, and has placed American infrastructure in jeopardy.
The National Security Council, the entity created to synthesize intelligence and coordinate the government’s response to foreign threats, has lost 44 percent of its staff. Trump also has cut the State Department staff by 21 percent and in the process lost substantial and extraordinary expertise.
In addition, a Partnership for Public Service analysis has found that Trump ignored one of the important lessons from 9/11, with key Senate-confirmed national security positions going unfilled for nearly half of the time during his first year back in office. Trump also failed to retain holdovers in 46 national security positions, making it more difficult to assure continuity and leaving important jobs vacant for extended periods of time. This represented far fewer holdovers than during the early days of the Barack Obama and Joe Biden presidencies.
An important takeaway from 9/11 is that our government is only as capable as the professionals doing the work. A complicated national security system cannot be successful emptied of experienced personnel and led by individuals without sufficient qualifications.
Twenty-five years after the terrorist attacks, the Trump administration has ignored many of the lessons of that tragic event by stripping of our government of national security expertise, creating new vulnerabilities, and weakening the guardrails its predecessors worked so hard to put in place. We are already experiencing real harms from this stark mismanagement of our government and much worse is likely to come.
This is why it is critical for Congress to conduct more rigorous oversight regarding the national security agencies and the erosion of our capabilities. Furthermore, the country needs a long-term investment in rebuilding and reimagining our national security components, which will require constructive engagement from the White House and action by the House and Senate.
The time to remember the lessons of 9/11 and make changes isn’t after the next attack; it is now.
Max Stier is the founding president and CEO of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, an organization focused on building a better government and a stronger democracy.
The real lesson of 9/11 is our change from “land of the free and home of the brave” to land of the surveilled and home of the terrified. 9/11 truly messed with our heads.