‘Institutional decapitation': US counter-terror defences dismantled

A former senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration has issued a stark warning that America’s counter-terrorism defences are being hollowed out just as global threats are rising.

Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the intelligence community is facing what he described as “institutional decapitation” following sweeping firings and restructuring across key agencies.

His warning comes as tensions in the Middle East escalate, raising fears that militant groups could exploit a weakened US security apparatus.

Warnings from Capitol Hill

Concerns have also been raised in Congress. Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, said senior counter-terror officials have been pushed out of their roles under the leadership of Kash Patel at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Murphy told MSNBC that the administration has dismissed some of the country’s most experienced counter-terror specialists. At the same time, the senator claimed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — responsible for protecting the nation from cyber threats — has effectively been shut down.

“That means we’re not only failing to strengthen protection against attacks,” Murphy said. “We’re weakening our ability to detect and stop them.”

Agents diverted from terror work

Taylor says the disruption goes even deeper.

According to his sources, counter-terror staff across agencies including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have been reassigned away from intelligence duties and redirected toward immigration enforcement operations.

In some cases, he claims analysts have been instructed to limit the distribution of threat warnings — effectively muting alerts that would normally circulate across government.

A dangerous shift in priorities

Taylor also criticised what he described as a political shift in focus inside the intelligence system.

Instead of concentrating on foreign militant networks, he said some officials are being pushed to prioritise investigations into groups such as “Antifa” — which he described as an exaggerated domestic threat.

The result, he warned, could be catastrophic.

“I don’t think people realise how serious this is,” Taylor said. “We may be moving toward the most dangerous foreign terror threat environment since before 9/11.”

Former Trump official rails against 'decapitation' of US intel as terrorists advance