On Friday, the Trump administration dismissed dozens of staffers from the White House National Security Council (NSC).
This move is part of a broader effort to downsize the influential coordinating body.
The dismissals affected both career officials detailed to the NSC and several political appointees.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated that the decision was made to streamline operations.
The staff reductions were directed by President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, Marco Rubio.
Rubio, who also serves as secretary of state, assumed the national security role after Michael Waltz was removed following several missteps.
President Donald Trump announced plans to nominate Waltz as the United Nations ambassador. This nomination follows Waltz’s departure from the NSC role.
Administration officials had signaled that a major scale-down of the NSC was imminent, per the Conservative Brief.
Some argued that the NSC had become bloated under previous administrations, peaking at around 400 staffers during President Barack Obama’s tenure.
Following the cuts, the NSC will return to roughly the same size it was at the end of President Trump’s first term. This adjustment aligns with efforts to reduce the council’s influence.
The NSC, traditionally staffed by policy experts from various national security institutions, serves as a key advisory body to the president. However, its role has been notably reduced during Trump’s second term.
President Trump has increasingly relied on key cabinet members such as Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for foreign policy decisions. This shift indicates a preference for direct counsel from trusted officials.
Toward the end of his first term, Trump also sought to scale back the NSC. That effort was led by Robert O’Brien, Trump’s fourth and final national security adviser during his first administration.
O’Brien, now chairman of the consulting firm American Global Strategies, wrote that President Trump faces a familiar challenge in his second term—an oversized NSC filled with holdovers from prior administrations. According to a former NSC official, O’Brien’s article was a key factor prompting the recent staff cuts.
O’Brien noted that by the end of Trump’s first term, the NSC had been reduced to around 110 staffers.
He believed there was potential for further consolidation.
In a Washington Times op-ed with Alexander Gray, O’Brien suggested that the NSC policy staff could be streamlined to 60 people, matching the number employed during President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration.
This proposal reflects a desire for a leaner, more efficient council.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department is assembling a team of lawyers prepared to defend the most controversial elements of Trump’s agenda in court.
This includes efforts to remake immigration policy and the federal workforce.
As part of this initiative, the department has dismissed career attorneys considered obstacles and brought in political appointees committed to advancing the president’s priorities.
These new hires are already representing the government in court cases.
The new legal team sometimes appears in court without the cadre of veteran attorneys who typically handle significant cases.
