Project 2025 Tracker / What’s done, what’s next

26. Trade · Minor · Contested — excluded from counts

Align the National Security Adviser, CEA Chair, and NEC Director on trade

Partially done

795 26. Trade · from “The Case for Fair Trade”

“Within the West Wing itself, it is equally critical that the National Security Adviser, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), and the Director of the National Economic Council (NEC) all be aligned on trade policy.”

What has happened

  1. Partially done

    The America First Investment Policy memorandum picks up the other two offices: it is addressed to "the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers" and "the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs" as well as the United States Trade Representative, and directs them into one investment and trade policy toward China. Between the two memoranda all three named offices are on the same line. What no allowlisted source establishes is "alignment" as such, which is a state of mind rather than an act - and both offices changed hands inside the window, the National Security Adviser in May 2025 and the CEA Chairman when Stephen Miran (confirmed 2025-03-12, Record Vote 117) resigned and Christopher Phelan was confirmed on 2026-08-07 (Record Vote 225). `partial`, not `done`.

  2. Partially done

    The America First Trade Policy memorandum is addressed to, among others, "the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy" - the Director of the National Economic Council - and "the Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing". Neither Evidence URL names the holder of either post, so what is recorded here is the offices the memorandum addresses, not who filled them. It puts the NEC Director on the trade line from day one. It is not addressed to the National Security Adviser or to the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

Of the three named offices only the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers is Senate-confirmed, so the nominations Corpus dates that one and not the others: Miran confirmed 2025-03-12 (53-46), Phelan confirmed 2026-08-07 in an en bloc vote (51-47, Record Vote 225, PN931-6). The National Security Adviser and the NEC Director leave no confirmation record, and whitehouse.gov/nsc/ and /nec/ both 404, so the addressee lists of the two trade and investment memoranda are the best Primary evidence that the three offices were put on one policy.

Correction, 2026-09-01 (ticket 26 phase 2). The first event’s note previously identified the Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing as “the post held by Peter Navarro”. Navarro is a Mandate author and src/data/people.json carries him with no Current office, because his appointment was announced 2024-12-04, before the 2025-01-20 floor. Neither Evidence URL on this item names him. The name is dropped; the memorandum’s addressee list is what the Evidence carries and it names posts, not people.

The partial rather than done call is flagged in .scratch/research-phase/spot-checks.md with the same question raised for #2095: what does a tracker do with an ask whose substance is a disposition rather than an act?

Action
appoint
Object
National Security Adviser, CEA Chairman, and NEC Director
ID
2096