WH announces initiatives to combat violent domestic extremism

During a White House briefing on Friday, press secretary Jen Psaki announced the Biden administration’s plans to fight violent extremism in the U.S.

Video Transcript

JEN PSAKI: I also have some news to share on the president's response to domestic violent extremism. The January 6th assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we have long known. The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat.

The Biden administration will confront this threat with the necessary resources and resolve. We are committed to developing policies and strategies based on facts, on objective and rigorous analysis, and on our respect for constitutionally protected free speech and political activities. Our initial work on DVE will broadly fall into three areas.

The first is a tasking from President Biden sent to the ODNI today requesting a comprehensive threat assessment coordinated with the FBI and DHS on domestic violent extremism. This assessment will draw on the analysis from across the government and, as appropriate, non-governmental organizations.

The key point here is that we want fact-based analysis upon which we can shape policy. So this is really the first step in the process, and we will rely on our appropriate law enforcement and intelligence officials to provide that analysis. The second will be the building of an NSC capability to focus on countering domestic violent extremism.

As a part of this, the NSC will undertake a policy review effort to determine how the government can share information better about this threat, support efforts to prevent radicalization, disrupt violent extremist networks, and more.

There's important work already underway across the interagency in countering DVE, and we need to understand better its current extent and where there may be gaps to address so we can determine the best path forward.

The third will be coordinating relevant parts of the federal government to enhance and accelerate efforts to address DVE. This considered NSC convening process will focus on addressing evolving threats, radicalization, the role of social media, opportunities to improve information sharing, operational responses, and more.