US President Donald Trump led White House reportedly fired dozens of National Security Council (NSC) staffers on Friday, as the president moved to cut the size and scope of the powerful body, Reuters reported. Staff members, mostly dealing with geopolitical issues like Ukraine, Kashmir, were reportedly asked to leave on Friday afternoon.
The reports of mass job slashing at NSC comes about three weeks after President Trump pushed out former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and made Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the interim head of the NSC.
The restructuring of the NSC would further contain the influence of the body and transform it from a powerful policymaking institution to a small organization focused more on implementing the president’s agenda than on shaping it, Reuters reported quoting sources.
The report further added that with the slashing of staff at the NSC, the State Department, the Defense Department and other departments and agencies involved in the geopolitical diplomacy would have more authority and command on national security and intelligence matters.
The Trump administration is planning to keep a few dozen people in the NSC and relieve the rest of it. Reuters report stated that the final headcount in NSC after restructuring could turn out to be 50. Under former President Joe Biden, there were more than 300 staffers in the NSC.
However, in a major relief to those being relieved from their duties at NSC, the Trump administration is reportedly planning to move them to other positions in the government.
Like Waltz, who was earlier leading the NSC, was let go by President Trump after he accidentally shared an imminent bombing campaign of the US against Yemen based Houthi rebels with an Atlantic journalist.
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A CNN report stated that more than 100 NSC employees received notices on Friday afternoon that they were put on administrative leave and gave them 30 minutes to clean their respective desks.
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