A Career in Public Service
National Security Advisor · Senate Majority Leader's Office | U.S. Senate
For more than two decades, Mike Kuiken shaped the national security posture of the United States from within the halls of the U.S. Senate — one of the most consequential, if often unsung, careers in modern American public service.
The Foundation
Mike Kuiken began his Senate career on the staff of the late Senator Carl Levin of Michigan — a legislator widely respected for his seriousness of purpose and his command of defense and national security policy. It was a fitting starting point for someone who would spend the next two decades immersed in the hardest problems facing the country.
From there, Kuiken moved to the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he spent more than twelve years as a professional staff member. In a body defined by politics, the professional staff are the institutional memory — the people who actually know how the machinery works, who read the classified briefings, who carry continuity across administrations and election cycles.
Over those years, Kuiken was present for — and often central to — virtually every major national security episode the Senate navigated: the war on terrorism, the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, the Arab Spring, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the long pivot toward great-power competition with China.
Career Arc
Early Career
Staff, Office of Senator Carl Levin
Began his Senate career under one of the chamber's most respected defense voices, developing a foundation in national security policy and Senate procedure.
12+ Years
Professional Staff Member, Senate Armed Services Committee
Served as institutional backbone through the post-9/11 era, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the early years of renewed great-power competition. Traveled to over 85 countries bringing a frontline perspective to national policy.
Gang of Eight
Senior Intelligence Staffer
Spent more than seven years as a Gang of Eight staffer — one of the most sensitive and consequential roles available to any Senate aide, with access to the nation's most classified intelligence.
Capstone Role
National Security Advisor, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
Rose to the Senate's most senior national security staff position. Served as the Majority Leader's principal advisor on defense, intelligence, and foreign policy — the culmination of two decades of accumulated expertise.
Legislative Legacy
A career in Senate staff is measured not by the offices held but by the legislation passed, the crises navigated, and the institutions strengthened. By that measure, Kuiken's record is exceptional.
CHIPS and Science Act
Architected the legislative strategy that secured passage of one of the most significant industrial policy bills in a generation — reshoring semiconductor manufacturing to the United States.
AI Insight Forums
Played a key role in establishing the Senate's groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence Insight Forums, bringing tech leaders face-to-face with senators at a pivotal moment in AI policy.
Gang of Eight Intelligence Work
Seven-plus years handling the most sensitive intelligence matters in the legislative branch, shaping oversight of U.S. intelligence activities at the highest level.
Two Decades of Defense Policy
A career spanning every major defense and national security challenge of the post-9/11 era, from counterterrorism to peer-competitor strategy.
After the Senate
Since departing the Senate, Kuiken has remained one of the most engaged voices in national security and technology policy — now from positions that let him shape the conversation publicly rather than behind closed doors.
He serves as Vice Chair of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, the body charged with advising Congress on the national security implications of the bilateral relationship with China. He is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, and a member of Anthropic's National Security and Public Sector Advisory Council.
Through Silver Valley Strategies, he advises founders, CEOs, and investors navigating the intersection of geopolitics and technology — bringing to the private sector the same frontline perspective he spent two decades building in the public one.
Mike Kuiken's Senate career is a study in what sustained, serious public service looks like — decades of work that rarely made headlines but consistently shaped history.