National Emergencies at the Stately Speed of Bureaucracy

A new executive order:

The executive order, signed just two months ahead of the November's midterms elections, addresses not only interference with campaign and election infrastructure, but also propaganda efforts.

The order, which is considered a national emergency due to sanctions authority requirements, instructs the Office of National Intelligence and the intelligence community to conduct regular assessments about potential foreign interference in elections.

The process, according to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and White House national security adviser John Bolton, would take a total of 90 days.

So, you might ask, the election's in two months, but in three months we'll have an assessment of whether or not anyone is trying to interfere?

Oh, no. No, the 90 days doesn't start until after the election.

Following Election Day, the intelligence community would have 45 days to collect data and assess whether interference had occurred.

At that point, the agencies would pass the findings to the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, where officials would have 45 days to make their assessment based on the intelligence information, and decide whether to pass sanctions on potential actors, countries, or institutions that participated in potential interference.

Shouldn't we be doing this now, in the hope of preventing foreign interference in our elections?