CNAS Launches New Project: “21st Century Federalism and the National Security Implications”

Washington, February 7, 2024—Today, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) launches the 21st Century Federalism and the National Security Implications project. After nearly 75 years of U.S. federal government institutional growth and accompanying expansion of national and homeland security authorities and institutions, the modern era may be witnessing a pivot. This new project will investigate the impact on U.S. national and homeland security under circumstances where states and governors are asserting greater authorities and influence.

“This project will uniquely work at the intersection of legal scholarship and innovative policy analysis,” said Carrie Cordero, CNAS Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow and project lead. “The goal is to identify the practical impacts of expanding federalism and assertions of state power, and provide legal and policy recommendations for ensuring the robust protection of national and homeland security in this modern environment.”

Under the umbrella of CNAS’s Securing U.S. Democracy Initiative, the project will bring together constitutional law scholars, national security practitioners, and policy experts at the federal and state levels to assess the national and homeland security implications in an era of robust exercise of state power.

In addition to traditional research methods, the project will feature a scenario exercise in spring 2024. Findings and recommendations from this research effort will be distilled into a public report to be published in early fall 2024.

This project is made possible by the generous support of the Democracy Innovation Fund, Defending Democracy Together Institute.

Please contact Arona Baigal, Research Assistant, at abaigal@cnas.org if you are interested in learning more about this project. To schedule a media interview, please contact Alexa Whaley at awhaley@cnas.org.