Federal law names seven officials as statutory members of the National Security Council: the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Energy, and the Director of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy. These are the seats written into 50 U.S.C. § 3021, and they belong to whoever holds those offices regardless of which administration is in power.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3021 – National Security Council
The Seven Seats Written Into Law
The statute is short and direct. The council, it says, “consists of the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy and such other officers of the United States Government as the President may designate.”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3021 – National Security Council
Two things follow from that language. First, only those seven officials hold seats by law. Second, the President has broad statutory authority to add others, but any additions live at the pleasure of the President rather than as a matter of right.
How the List Reached Seven
The National Security Act of 1947 created the council with a shorter roster. Congress has amended the membership over the decades to reflect what it viewed as the changing shape of national security.
The Secretary of Energy was added by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, reflecting the growing national security weight of energy policy and nuclear weapons stewardship. The Director of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy is the most recent addition, placed on the council after Congress created that office in response to lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.2Justia Law. 50 USC 3021 – National Security Council The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense have been on the council since its original creation.
A Council That Advises, Not Votes
Membership on the NSC does not carry a vote. The council’s statutory job is “to advise the President with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to the national security.”3Office of the Director of National Intelligence. National Security Act of 1947 Members bring positions and expertise to the table. The President decides.
The President also presides. When the President cannot attend a meeting, the statute permits the President to designate another member to preside in their place.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3021 – National Security Council
Statutory Advisors Who Are Not Members
Two officials are often assumed to be members of the council but are not. Separate federal statutes designate them as the NSC’s principal advisors, which is a different thing.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is “the principal military adviser to the President, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense” under 10 U.S.C. § 151.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 151 – Joint Chiefs of Staff The Director of National Intelligence serves as “the principal intelligence advisor to the President, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters related to the national security” under 50 U.S.C. § 3023.5GovInfo. 50 USC 3023 – Director of National Intelligence
Both officials are effectively indispensable at NSC meetings. Neither holds a statutory seat on the council itself.
Officials the President May Designate
The same section that names the seven members also identifies four officials the President may designate to attend and participate in council meetings: the Director of National Intelligence, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of National Drug Control Policy, and the National Cyber Director.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3021 – National Security Council The verb Congress used is “may.” Their attendance is authorized, not required.
The Director of National Drug Control Policy’s link to the council goes back to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, which authorized that official to attend “in his role as principal adviser to the National Security Council on national drug control policy.” The National Cyber Director was added more recently, as cyber operations became a standing national security concern.
Who Else Sits at the Table by Presidential Choice
Every incoming President issues a national security presidential memorandum that spells out who actually sits on the council in practice. The current document is NSPM-1, issued January 20, 2025. It adds the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the White House Chief of Staff, and the National Security Advisor as designated members beyond the seven listed in the statute.6The White House. Organization of the National Security Council and Subcommittees
NSPM-1 also identifies regular non-voting attendees at NSC meetings, including the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Principal Deputy National Security Advisor, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of National Intelligence. Additional invitees such as the Counsel to the President and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy attend unless the National Security Advisor restricts the meeting.6The White House. Organization of the National Security Council and Subcommittees
The National Security Advisor is worth flagging. That official has no statutory seat and yet shapes the council’s work as much as anyone besides the President, setting the agenda, deciding who attends each meeting, and running the interagency process. The position’s authority comes entirely from proximity to the President and from the presidential memorandum, not from any act of Congress.
The practical takeaway: the council’s roster can be redrawn overnight by a new President. The seven statutory seats cannot. Changing those requires Congress.