Stevenson’s army, July 22

– Despite the Constitution’s requirement that the census count “the whole number of free persons” but “excluding Indians not taxed,” the Trump administration wants somehow to exclude noncitizens from the count. NYT explains the politics.
– The administration also wants to send agents in DHS to act as local police in Democrat-controlled cities. Lots of push-back on that — from James Comey, from the heads of Lawfare, from the Atlantic’s David Graham. Even SecDef Esper worries that agents in camouflage gear might be mistaken for active duty troops. I give all these articles because I am outraged by this — and I’m not usually outraged. I will acknowledge that law prof Steve Vladeck calls it “lawful but awful.” Drezner also weighs in.

More on the media focus from CJR: In recent days, media critics have argued that federal agents in Portland were trying to get national attention—namely from right-wing media. Right-wing outlets have been on top of the story. Sean Hannity and others have provided wild descriptions of Portland as a warzone where the Trump administration has bravely fended off leftist mobs hellbent on anarchy. As The Oregonian’s Eder Campuzano reported over the weekend, that’s nonsense: a majority of protesters have been peaceful; violent clashes have been limited to a small section of the city during nighttime hours. Since the truth does not match Trump’s preferred narrative—that Democratic-led cities are on fire, and only he can put out the flames—it appears that his administration is using blunt force to put on a show of his law-and-order bonafides. On Sunday, Anne Applebaum, of The Atlantic, told CNN that the crackdown on Portland amounts to “performative authoritarianism.” Will Bunch, of the Philadelphia Inquirer, called it “made-for-TV fascism.”

After a 20 month hiatus, reportedly to avoid contradicting the president, DNI Ratcliffe has agreed to testify on global threats before the Senate Intelligence Committee early in August.
AEI’s Norm Ornstein predicts election day shambles

Politico details the pre-election measures against China, most recently ordering closure of its Houston consulate.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).