BURSTPresident Trump is slashing half of the National Security Council (NSC) staff as part of a restructuring process under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also serving as the acting national security adviser.
The administration is downsizing the NSC, made up of top advisers and experts tasked with advising the president on national security and foreign policy matters, by gutting around half of the current 350-person workforce, who will be transferred to other posts with the government, a White House official confirmed to The Hill on Saturday.
The shrinking of the NSC, which was made official Friday, is seen by the administration as a way to streamline the process within the agency and allow for national security decision-making to accelerate.
"The right-sizing of the NSC is in line with its original purpose and the president's vision. The NSC will now be better positioned to collaborate with agencies,” Rubio said in a statement to Axios, which first reported on the shake-up.
As part of the overhaul, Andy Baker and Robert Gabriel will now work as deputy national security advisers, another source familiar with the matter told The Hill on Saturday. Gabriel was an assistant to the president for policy. Baker will keep working in his post as Vice President Vance’s national security adviser while adding the NSC to his portfolio.
The restructuring of the NSC comes roughly three weeks after Trump tapped Rubio to replace Mike Waltz as his national security adviser on an interim basis.
The president selected Waltz to be the country’s next ambassador to the United Nations, a position that will require Senate confirmation.
In early April, five NSC staffers were fired after Trump met at the White House with far-right activist Laura Loomer, who during the meeting questioned the aides’ loyalty.
“I will continue working hard to support his agenda, and I will continue reiterating the importance of, and the necessity of STRONG VETTING, for the sake of protecting the President of the United States of America, and our national security,” Loomer said at the time.
Updated at 12:09 pm.