Someone will make something out of nothing here, but President Trump’s National Security Council is being scaled down. There’s a reorganization occurring, which isn’t new. Even The Washington Post admits this, albeit buried in their story. They also add that many felt the NSC had become bloated, with some 400 staffers under the Obama administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is now national security adviser, is trimming the fat at the NSC (via WaPo):
Scores of staffers at the White House National Security Council were abruptly dismissed on Friday, as the Trump administration moved to dramatically downsize the coordinating body, according to people familiar with the matter.
The staff sent home included both career officials who were detailed to the NSC and some political appointees, these people said. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel issue.
[…]
It was not immediately clear how deep the cuts would be or if the dismissals on Friday afternoon would reflect their totality. Most NSC staffers are detailed to the White House from other parts of the federal government and were expected to go back to their home agencies, including the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies, said people familiar with the shake-up.
[…]
Since [Michael] Waltz’s ouster, administration officials have signaled a major scale-down of the National Security Council was imminent. Some have argued that the NSC had become bloated under previous administrations, peaking with around 400 staffers during the presidency of Barack Obama, allowing the White House to micromanage policy decisions.
[…]
Trump’s allies have called for the administration to follow a model used by Brent Scowcroft, who first became national security adviser in 1977 and assumed the role for a second time in 1989. Scowcroft, who viewed his role as offering private counsel to the president, kept a small staff during his two stints in the job.
[…]
One former senior NSC staff member said Friday’s downsizing was “both a reflection of Trump’s paranoia that the NSC staff constitutes the Deep State, but it is also a very deliberate effort to kneecap the role of the NSC in generating interagency consensus.”
“The purpose,” this person said, “is to make sure there are no alternatives and no constraints to the president’s prerogative.”
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Alas, there it is: some random NSC lifer, likely someone not on board with the president’s agenda, deciding to sneak in a swipe at Trump. So brave that he or she remained anonymous. The NSC is the president’s personal foreign policy staff. You shouldn't be on it if you can’t support your boss or defend his initiatives.
As former Secretary of State Bob Gates said, ‘Be loyal or be gone.’ You may offer differing views, but when the president makes his call, it’s time to shut up, defend the policy, and salute.
President Trump "has a right to expect loyalty" by National Security Council staff and "if you hold views that are unacceptable to the president" on issues like the 2020 election, "you don't belong inside the White House complex," former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says.
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 18, 2025
"I… pic.twitter.com/XXrHa8FbUs
This isn't some nefarious plot. Everyone needs to simmer down.
🚨 BREAKING: Marco Rubio puts over 100 National Security Council staffers on leave - CNN
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 23, 2025
This is part of a restructuring effort. pic.twitter.com/QsGdUokioF
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