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A 22-year-old college graduate with no previous government leadership or security experience appointed to a major posting at the Department of Homeland Security is now drawing further scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s Democratic critics in the wake of military strikes against Iran and warnings from officials about the heightened risk of terror attacks at home.
Thomas Fugate, a former Heritage Foundation intern and self-described “Trumplican,” joined DHS in a leadership role at the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, known as CP3 in May. The CP3, which works to combat terrorism, school shootings and other hate-driven violence, oversees an $18 million grant program intended to help communities battle violent extremism.
The appointment of the recent University of San Antonio grad put counterterrorism experts and insiders on edge, ProPublica first reported in early June. “It sounds like putting the intern in charge,” a counterterrorism researcher who has experience working with CP3 told the outlet.
“We’re entering very dangerous territory,” another longtime counterterrorism official said.
Those warnings were echoed by Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, on Sunday after the Department of Homeland Security warned in a bulletin that “ongoing Iran conflict is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States”. On Saturday evening, Donald Trump authorized military strikes against three Iranian nuclear sites the administration and Israeli government claimed were part of a renewed push by Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons. The U.S. has not provided evidence to back up its assertion.
While Trump officials warn publicly against retaliation, the strikes are the most significant military action committed by the U.S. against Iran in years.
“As our nation girds for possible Iranian terrorist attacks, this is the person Trump put in charge of terrorism prevention. 22 years old. Recent work experience: landscaping/grocery clerk. Never worked a day in counter-terrorism. But he’s a BIG Trump fan. So he got the job,” wrote Murphy on Twitter.
Though Fugate’s position at CP3 involves levels of responsibility far beyond his previous experiences, he’s far from the final authority in the Trump administration overseeing counterrorism efforts. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces are the main investigative body in this matter; CP3 does not engage in law enforcement or data collection duties, per its own website. The agency instead works with local government entities on violence prevention programs.
But officials spoke out about Fugate’s appointment nonetheless as spring saw a number of high-profile, violent incidents, including the attack in Boulder, Colorado, the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., and a car bombing outside a California fertility center.
Fugate took over from Army veteran Bill Braniff, who resigned in March after the Trump administration cut 20 percent of his staff.
Another Twitter user wrote of his appointment Saturday evening: “If Iran activates sleeper cells, I feel safe knowing Trump appointed this 23 year old to run counter terrorism operations at Department of Homeland Security.”
Braniff had more than 20 years’ experience in national security. “If I cannot advance the prevention mission from inside of the government for now, I will do what I can outside of government,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post announcing his resignation. “CP3 is the inheritor of the primary and founding mission of DHS - to prevent terrorism,” he added.
Braniff’s achievements in the post included funneling nearly $90 million since 2020 toward helping communities tackle extremist violence.
Replacing Braniff with Fugate is “an insult,” a source told ProPublica. Braniff helped with the move “toward evidence-based approaches to terrorism prevention” in a field still dealing with post-9/11 work that was predisposed to stigmatizing Muslims, the source added.
“They really started to shift the conversation and shift the public thinking. It was starting to get to the root of the problem,” they said. “Now that’s all gone.”
Before taking up the new leadership responsibilities, Fugate was hired as a “special assistant” in an immigration office at the Department of Homeland Security.
The department told The Independent that Fugate was “temporarily given additional leadership responsibilities” in CP3 “due to his success.” Staffers he works with, however, have likened meeting with him to “career counseling” while expressing shock at how little he appears to know about the role, the outlet reported.
According to Fugate’s LinkedIn profile, he worked as a gardener briefly in 2020 before embarking on fellowships and internships, including at the conservative Heritage Foundation. He worked on the Trump campaign last year where he attended the Republican National Convention. He also served as secretary general of a Model United Nations club.
He shared photos in recent months at the White House. In one post, he gushed about taking “the first major leap” of his career.
The criticism of the 22-year-old follows similar outrage over Elon Musk’s hiring of teenagers in the Department of Government Efficiency.
Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old Northeastern University drop-out, was part of a group of young DOGE engineers who were given access to critical computer systems as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to gut the federal government.
President Donald Trump stood by the group after widespread criticism earlier this year. “I’m very proud of the job that this group of young people, generally young people, but very smart people, they’re doing,” Trump said.
