Mark Ellis installed at NSA

The National Security Agency said Sunday it was installing Trump National Security Council staffer Michael Ellis as its general counsel, after acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller ordered NSA Director Gen. Paul Nakasone to place the Trump loyalist into the role.

"Mr. Ellis accepted his final job offer yesterday afternoon. NSA is moving forward with his employment," an NSA spokesperson said in a statement. Ellis will start in his new role on Tuesday, according to a source familiar.

Ellis, who was a lawyer for the NSC, had been named to the position in November, but the NSA had yet to move him into the role. The Washington Post and CNN reported Saturday that Miller, who was installed as acting defense secretary as part of a purge of agencies after the election, had ordered Nakasone to install him into the position, giving him a Saturday evening deadline.

"The General Counsel of the Department of Defense is the sole selection authority for the position of General Counsel of the National Security Agency - as well as all other senior career DoD General Counsel positions," according to a statement from the Department of Defense. "The Director of the NSA does not select or approve of candidates for the position of the NSA General Counsel."

The move is significant because the role of general counsel at the country's largest intelligence agency is a civil service position, not a political role, meaning it could be difficult for the Biden administration to remove Ellis. The strategy of trying to install political loyalists into career positions is known as "burrowing" in the government.

The Pentagon declined to comment Saturday when news of the deadline broke.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/17/politics/michael-ellis-nsa-general-counsel/index.html