Richard J. Baum

Richard J. Baum is the Acting Director of National [...] Control Policy (ONDCP) since March 2017.

Education

Baum holds a B.A. in Government, International Affairs and Public Policy (1987) and a M.A. in National Security Studies, both from Georgetown University (1991), as well as a M.P.A. from the University of Colorado Denver (2004).

Career

Baum has served in the Office of National [...] Control Policy (ONDCP) through four presidential administrations. After joining ONDCP in 1997, Baum has served in various roles. As Director of ONDCP's International Division he co-led the development of documents such as the National [...] Control Strategy, the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy, the Synthetic [...] Action Plan, and the Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime. Baum has worked on national security and domestic [...] policy issues. He served in the Office of Legislative Affairs and represented the United States at the meeting of the United Nations’ Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria as Chief of the International Division at ONDCP. Baum is an McCourt School of Public Policy Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches a class called 'The War on Drugs: Causes, Consequences and Alternatives'. Baum also served as minority staff director at the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control.

Public Appearances

In May 2017, Baum informed the staff of the Office of National [...] Control Policy of the budget cuts the new administration had proposed in an internal review for the Office. He described the cuts in this draw, which would have amounted to about 94% of the administration's budget to fight [...] abuse in the midst of the worst [...] crisis in American history, as "frankly heartbreaking" and promised his colleagues to seek a discussion on this topic with the White House leadership. On 17 May 2017, an article of Baum was published in "The Hill", arguing that a close cooperation with Colombia as key producer of [...] was imperative to fight the surge in coca production in the Latin American country and the resulting flooding of the U.S. market with [...]. Later in May he announced that President Trump’s budget overall requests for the fiscal year 2018 for the fight against drugs would amount to $27.8 billion, which constituted an increase at least over the 2017 continuing resolution level. The budget request for the national [...] policy office would be just under $368.6 million, which would be 5% less than the office’s budget for 2017.

In a White House Oversight Committee hearing in late July 2017, Baum announced the release of an updated national [...] control strategy around the time of the president’s annual budget release in February 2018. The comprehensive strategy will encompass traditional approaches of [...] prevention and addiction treatment, but also border control - and law enforcement activities to tackle all aspects of the [...] problem.

Private live

Baum lives in Falls Church, Virginia. He is married and has two children.