Donald Trump is ordering a major overhaul of the National Security Council that will shrink its size by over 100 staffers in the wake of the ‘SignalGate’ scandal.
The move will see the ouster of some political appointees and return many career government employees back to their home agencies.
The number of staff at the NSC is expected to be significantly reduced, according to the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matter.
CNN reported over 100 employees are going to be given a pink slip in the mass reshuffle.
The shakeup is just the latest shoe to drop at the NSC, which is being made over after the ouster early this month of Mike Waltz over the SignalGate scandal.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been serving as national security adviser since the ouster of Waltz, who was nominated to serve as Trump’s UN ambassador.
The move is expected to elevate the importance of the State Department and Pentagon in advising Trump on important foreign policy decisions.
The NSC, created during the Truman administration, is an arm of the White House tasked with advising and assisting the president on national security and foreign policy and coordinating among various government agencies.
Donald Trump is ordering a major overhaul of the National Security Council that will shrink its size by over 100 staffers
The shakeup is just the latest shoe to drop at the NSC, which is being dramatically made over after the ouster early this month of Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz (pictured)
Trump was frustrated in his first term by political appointees and advisers who he felt gummed up his ‘America First’ agenda.
There were roughly 395 people working at the NSC, including about 180 support staff, according to one official.
About 90 to 95 of those being ousted are policy or subject matter experts seconded from other government agencies.
They will be given an opportunity to return to their home agencies. Many of the political appointees will also be given positions elsewhere in the administration.
The NSC has been in a continual state of tumult during the early going of Trump´s second go-around in the White House.
Waltz was ousted weeks after Trump fired several NSC officials, just a day after the influential far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty.
Loomer told journalist Tara Palmeri earlier this month that she had sounded the alarm about Waltz’s anti-Trump past and claimed he hadn’t vetted his staff to weed out liberals.
Waltz was ousted weeks after Trump fired several NSC officials, just a day after the influential far-right activist Laura Loomer (pictured) raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty
The NSC has been in a continual state of tumult during the early going of Trump´s second go-around in the White House
The ‘Loomer Unleashed’ host told Palmeri all about the dirt she had on the former NSC boss.
Loomer said that Waltz, a Republican congressman from Florida before his appointment to Trump’s Cabinet, was letting anti-Trumpers into the agency.
‘He is saying that he’s personally vetting these individuals who have a history of anti Trump remarks and anti-Trump associations,’ Loomer, an ultra-Trump fan, told the host.
‘Why would he be signing off on them? And then it reminded me of a video that I had saved in my phone for many years of Michael Waltz on video speaking out against President Trump when he first ran for president, accusing him of being against service members,’ Loomer continued, stirring up controversy.
Trump denied that Loomer had anything to do with a round of National Security Council firings after she exposed some of the workers.
The president said ‘no’ when asked if she was behind the dismissal of several of National Security Advisor Michael Waltz’s aides.
‘Laura Loomer is a great patriot. She’s a very strong person,’ Trump said. ‘She’s been in the party a long time, she’s done a good job,’ he later added.
Instead of being behind the firings, the president said that Loomer met with him and gave him recommendations on people to hire.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been serving as national security adviser since the ouster of Waltz
Waltz during his short tenure heading the NSC came under searing criticism in March after revelations that he added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg (pictured) to a private text chain
‘And sometimes I listen to those recommendations, like I do with everybody, I listen to everybody, and then I make a decision. But I saw her yesterday. She was at the ceremony. And she’ll always have something to say, usually very constructive,’ Trump said. ‘She recommended certain people for jobs.’
Waltz has been a lightning rod for controversy in the still-nascent second Trump administration. He has been to blame for accidentally leaking military plans to the press via an unfortunate Signal group chat.
And the White House, days into the administration, sidelined about 160 NSC aides, sending them home while the administration reviewed staffing and tried to align it with Trump´s agenda.
The aides were career government employees, commonly referred to as detailees.
This latest shakeup amounts to a ‘liquidation’ of NSC staffing with both career government detailees on assignment to the NSC being sent back to their home agencies and several political appointees being pushed out of their positions, according to the person familiar with the decision.
A White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the overhaul, first reported by Axios, was underway but declined further comment.
Waltz during his short tenure heading the NSC came under searing criticism in March after revelations that he added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on an encrypted messaging app that was used to discuss planning for a sensitive military operation against Houthi militants in Yemen.
He has taken responsibility for building the text chain but has said he does not know how Goldberg ended up being included.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (pictured right) and Vice President JD Vance were both on the text chain
Waltz was viewed with a measure of skepticism by some in the MAGA world who saw the former Army Green Beret and three-term congressman as too tied to Washington’s foreign policy establishment
It wasn´t just Loomer who viewed Waltz suspiciously. He was viewed with a measure of skepticism by some in the MAGA world who saw the former Army Green Beret and three-term congressman as too tied to Washington’s foreign policy establishment.
On Russia, Waltz shared Trump´s concerns about the high price tag of extensive U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
But Waltz also advocated for further diplomatically isolating President Vladimir Putin – a position that was out of step with Trump, who has viewed the Russian leader, at moments, with admiration for his cunning in dealings with Trump´s predecessors.
His more hawkish rhetoric on Iran and China, including U.S. policy toward Taiwan, seemed increasingly out of step with Trump.
Before getting rid of Waltz, the president fired several members of his National Security Council team. The individuals fired were Brian Walsh, Thomas Boodry and David Feith.
The president – setting aside belligerent rhetoric about taking over Greenland from Denmark – has tilted more toward military restraint and diplomacy in facing some of the United States’ most challenging issues with adversaries.
