The nominee to lead the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said if confirmed by the Senate, he would work to formalize a designated counterintelligence career field. The move would come under a broader vision for the NCSC serve as a “nerve center” for U.S. counterintelligence activities, according to hearing documents.
George Wesley Street was nominated by President Donald Trump in March to lead the NSCS. The center sits under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Its stated mission is to lead and support counterintelligence and security activities across government.
During a June 25 confirmation hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Street said he wants the NCSC to be the government’s “center of gravity on the counterintelligence fight.”
Street said partnerships with the FBI and the National Counterintelligence Task Force will be crucial to that goal, and he highlighted the need to close gaps between the intelligence community and law enforcement entities.
“I also intend to have very regular collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on at least a weekly basis to ensure that we are synchronized and collaborating together as a whole of government to achieve effects against the adversary,” he said.
Street has spent his 32-year career in the Army, first as an active-duty soldier and then as a civilian, largely in counterintelligence positions. Most recently, he served as the Defense Department deputy director on the National Counterintelligence Task Force.
In answers to pre-hearing questions, Street expanded on his vision for the NCSC, which was established in 2014.
“The NCSC has the potential to serve as the nerve center to enable [U.S. government] agencies with the authorities and mission to execute operational activities that achieve counterintelligence effects,” he wrote. “The NCSC can act as a fusion point for the USG counterintelligence and security communities as well as a critical touch point for private industry, academia, state, local, tribal and territorial governments. The NCSC can also serve as a key bridge between the federal IC and law enforcement (LE) communities.”
Street said he would also “advocate for the establishment of a formal counterintelligence professional career field” as one of his top priorities.
While the military offers counterintelligence-focused occupational fields, Street pointed out that the Office of Personnel Management doesn’t have a recognized job series for counterintelligence professionals.
Instead, agencies use different job series, such as criminal investigators, intelligence specialists and security specialists, to fulfill counterintelligence functions.
“This leads to disparate training, execution and understanding of counterintelligence across the IC and whole-of-government,” Street wrote in his APQ.
Street also said he agrees with the goals and plans laid out in the 2024 National Counterintelligence Strategy, which focused on outreach across government and the private sector.
Asked about increasing counterintelligence awareness at academic institutions, Street said the government needs “to do a better job at speaking academia.”
“We have seen recent developments where the Chinese have victimized our academia on a regular basis using their own students and third-country nationals to do so,” Street said. “And, frankly, I view it as one of the most significant challenges we face today – exploitation of academia and our research and development enterprise.”
Street was also asked by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az.) about the “No Work With Adversaries Act.” The bill, which Kelly helped introduce in 2023, would prohibit current and former U.S. service members from working with entities that train the Chinese and Russian militaries.
Policymakers are broadly concerned about foreign nations targeting both current and former federal employees to glean sensitive information. The NCSC released a bulletin in April warning that foreign intelligence entities are recruiting feds by posing as consulting firms, corporate head hunters, think tanks and other entities.
Street said NCSC outreach programs will be “very effective” in addressing those risks.
“But I would submit to you that we need to take it a step further in terms of, if there are folks who are looking to do that sort of activity, we need to ensure that they are pre-briefed and debriefed not by NCSC directly but within organizations within the DoD, in partnership with the FBI and other organizations here in the homeland, to get a lid on that significant challenge,” Street said.
Copyright
© 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.