Civil Liberties Worries Loom in Plan to Identify Insider Threats

Federal agencies are working to root out extremists in their ranks without encroaching on civil liberties, Biden administration officials said Wednesday while discussing a new national plan for combating domestic terrorism.

White House homeland security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said the government recognizes the potential for an “insider threat” as domestic extremists try to recruit members of the military and law enforcement. Under the national strategy unveiled last week, the Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice departments are working to identify those individuals and improve their screening processes.

Merrick Garland, U.S. attorney general, speaks about the Biden administration’s domestic terrorism strategy at the Department of Justice on June 15, 2021.

Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Office of Personnel Management and federal agencies face the “hard work” of assessing ...