To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate

Tell Congress: Stop Bannon's national security takeover

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Donald Trump's decision to seat right-wing white nationalist Steve Bannon on the National Security Council, while downgrading the standing of our military and intelligence leaders, is dangerous for America and the world. Congress must be a check on this dangerous politicization of our nation's security and immediately act to keep Steve Bannon off the National Security Council.

Why is this important?

Steve Bannon is a dangerous right-wing extremist, and Donald Trump just gave him a seat at the most powerful table in the world.

The National Security Council is a group of the president's most senior military, diplomatic, and intelligence advisors, or at least it's supposed to be. Under a directive issued on Saturday by Donald Trump, Steve Bannon—the "alt-right," white-nationalist chief strategist to the president—has been appointed to the inner circle of the NSC, while the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence have been relegated to attend NSC meetings on an "as needed" basis.

This unprecedented move politicizes our national security far beyond what George W. Bush and Karl Rove did, and it opens the door to even more disastrous efforts like the Iraq War and the Patriot Act—or much worse.

Thankfully, Congress has the power to stop this. Congress created the National Security Council and as recently as last year passed legislation regulating it. Right now, members of Congress are drafting legislation to keep Steve Bannon off the National Security Council and protect the independence of our national security from Donald Trump's political meddling.

This isn't just about sending a message. Bannon is reportedly the driving force behind the extreme, un-American executive orders Trump has issued in his first week in office. In fact, according to CNN, Bannon personally spearheaded Trump's order banning all immigrants and visa holders from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., and slamming America's door to all refugees indefinitely.

Congress must immediately undo this politicization of America's national security.

Bannon represents the worst of the Trump administration's hardliners. He has made a career out of facilitating the rise of white nationalism, argued that being perceived as evil is a source of political power, has been praised by the KKK and neo-Nazis, and more. All signs suggest that Bannon believes deeply in the so-called clash of civilizations and that the United States needs to be made into a hub for a new kind of right-wing populism centering on white identity politics. We cannot let this vision be the beating heart of our nation's national security policy.

We know that this is terrifying. But the amazing mobilization of our movement over the past 10 days shows that we have the power to stop this. Millions of us have taken to the streets: from the unprecedented Women's March to the actions across the country at airports that helped reunite families torn apart by Trump's Muslim ban. Now it's time to keep the architect of Donald Trump's hateful and dangerous agenda away from America's national security.

Take two minutes to make sure your members of Congress hear loudly and clearly that they must act.