National Security Council staff drastically reduced
By: Josey Garrison
USA today
WASHINGTON - A significant number of staff members of the White House National Security Council were dismissed form their positions on May 23 [2025] as the Trump administration carried out a major restructuring of the agency.
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The firings, reported by the Washington Posts, Reuters and other media outlets, came three weeks after President Donald Trump pushed out former national security adviser Mike Waltz and made Secretary of State Marco Rubio the interim head of the NSC.
..... Staffers who dealt with a wide range of geopolitical issues, including the war in Ukraine and tensions in Kashmir, received termination notices as part of an agency restructuring, which is expected to grant more authority to the State and Defense departments.
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The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
..... Past presidents have used the NSC to coordinate their national security strategy, playing not only a role in keeping the United States safe, but also informing the country's approach to volatile conflicts around the world.
..... There had long been a push by some conservatives to reduce the workforce at the agency, as they felt some of the positions in the agency were redundant, with there functions also being served in other agencies or departments. Some Republicans though, along with Democrats, have raised the head count at the agency could result in policies being enacted with less guidance form experts.
..... CNN reported more than 100 NSC employees received notices at about 4:20 PM. notifying them that they were put on administrative leave and giving them 30 minutes to clean out their desks. The workers represented a sizable share of the overall NSC workforce, which grew to about 300 workers under President Joe Biden but had already been operating with less than half that figure under Trump.
..... Reuters reported that four sources with knowledge of the Trump administration's plans said they expect the agency to eventually be cut down to a workforce of about 50 people.
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Axios quoted an unnamed White House official who said, "the NSC is the ultimate deep State. It's Marco vs. the Deep State. "We're gutting the deep State."
..... The restructuring is expected to result in some of the agency's sections, called directorates, being combined or eliminated, three sources told Reuters. Some of the remaining directorates have just a few staff members left, they said. the sources also said the directorates that might cease operations as independent bodies include the ones overseeing Africa and multilateral organizations such as NATO.
..... The Trump administration has terminate tens of thousands of employees across the federal government and forced out even more though voluntary buyouts of Government Efficiency, launched by Elon Musk.
..... the restructuring comes after Trump in April [2025] fired multiple senior NSC officials flagged by right-wing activist Laura Loomer as being disloyal to Trump during a White House visit. Loomer also raised concerns about Waltz, who Trump nominated as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations after Waltz resigned as national security adviser
..... Contributing: Reuters