Obama Administration

From 2009 to 2011, he was the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East in the Obama administration.^[14] In 2011, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.^[14] In 2014, he became National Security Advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden.^[15] In the Obama administration, Kahl was directly involved in negotiating the Iran Nuclear Deal, as well as publicly advocating for it.^[16][17]

In May 2018, it was revealed that aides to U.S. President Donald Trump had contracted with the Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube to find evidence to support unsubstantiated and false claims that Kahl was being enriched by Iran lobbyists and that either he or deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes were cheating on their wives.^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

Biden Administration

In November 2020, Kahl was named a member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the National Security Council.^[23]

Kahl was nominated by Biden to serve as the under secretary of defense for policy. His nomination was subject to controversy in the Senate, with the Republican caucus unanimously opposing his confirmation due to his support for the Iran nuclear deal, as well as for his criticisms of Trump administration policies.^[24][25] Republicans also argued that Kahl had tweeted out classified information, demanding an FBI investigation into it; experts on classification told Politico the Republican accusations against Kahl appeared to be politically motivated, asserting that the tweets did not appear to constitute a violation.^[26][27]

On March 4, 2021, the Senate's Armed Forces Committee held hearings on Kahl's nomination. The committee deadlocked on the nomination on March 24, 2021, therefore delaying his confirmation. The entire Senate voted to discharge Kahl's nomination from the committee in a 50–50 roll call vote; Vice President Kamala Harris was needed to break the tie.^[28] On April 27, 2021, Kahl was confirmed by a vote of 49–45, thanks in part to the absence of several Republican senators.^[29][4] He was sworn in the following day by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.^[30]

In May 2023 it became known that Kahl would return to his role as a professor at Stanford University after being granted a two-year leave of absence.^[31]

In April 2024, Kahl joined the Truman National Security Project's board of directors.^[32]

Books

• States, Scarcity, and Civil Strife in the Developing World, Princeton, N.J.; Woodstock: Princeton University Press, 2008. ISBN 9780691138350, OCLC 231587048
• Colin H. Kahl and Thomas J. Wright, Aftershocks: pandemic politics and the end of the old international order, New York: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2021. ISBN 978-1-250-27574-5, OCLC 1227086712