{"id":26669,"date":"2025-12-12T16:59:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T16:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=26669"},"modified":"2025-12-12T16:59:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T16:59:03","slug":"scores-of-national-security-council-staffers-put-on-leave-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=26669","title":{"rendered":"Scores Of National Security Council Staffers Put On Leave: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article may contain commentary
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As the White House cuts more than 100 positions from the National Security Council, some former officials and analysts are raising concerns about whether a leaner staff can handle today\u2019s fast-paced and volatile global security landscape.<\/p>\n

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About half of the NSC\u2019s 350-member team is being let go in what the administration describes as a \u201cright-sizing\u201d of a traditionally bloated organization, long dominated by career diplomats who critics say are misaligned with the president\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n

Personnel originally detailed from agencies like the State Department and Pentagon are being reassigned to their home departments, while political appointees placed on administrative leave have been promised new roles elsewhere in the administration.<\/p>\n

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Some former NSC officials told the outlet that it\u2019s still too soon to determine whether the shake-up will lead to a more streamlined and effective agency or leave it under-resourced and unable to provide timely intelligence for critical national security decisions.<\/p>\n

Privately, national security insiders have speculated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, currently serving as interim national security advisor, may be downsizing the agency to head off internal turf wars before resuming his original role.<\/p>\n

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Michael Allen, a former senior director at the NSC, suggested the staffing overhaul reflects President Donald Trump\u2019s preference for tighter control over major policy decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he wants people to bring decisions to him earlier than previous presidents,\u201d Allen told Fox News.<\/p>\n

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The NSC has been navigating turbulent waters since the abrupt departure of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, following the fallout from a mistakenly publicized Signal chat. His deputy, Alex Wong, also recently left, and Friday\u2019s restructuring removed several key figures who played major roles in shaping the administration\u2019s early foreign policy agenda.<\/p>\n

Among those ousted were Eric Trager, senior director for Middle East affairs and a close adviser to envoy Steve Witkoff during Iran talks, and Andrew Peek, senior director for Europe and Eurasia, who was instrumental in formulating the administration\u2019s approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the restructuring will elevate Andy Barker, currently national security advisor to Vice President J.D. Vance, and Robert Gabriel, assistant to the president for policy, into new roles as deputy national security advisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis happens naturally on NSCs; the kind of stasis we saw in the Biden administration is highly untypical,\u201d said Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser to Trump.<\/p>\n

She went on to say that President Ronald Reagan had a half-dozen national security advisers during his two terms, along with two acting NSAs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the president, he has legitimate concerns about the NSC from the first term, given what happened, and then, you know, there\u2019s no sugar-coating it: the situation with Signalgate was a problem for NSA Waltz,\u201d Coates told Fox. \u201cThe president is taking actions to get the NSC into a condition that he would have complete confidence in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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With a leaner National Security Council, President Trump is expected to rely more heavily on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to deliver his daily intelligence briefings.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that makes this administration unique is that it\u2019s the president himself and a small circle of advisors who truly matter and make decisions,\u201d Brian Katulis, a former NSC official and fellow at the Middle East Institute, told the outlet. \u201cThey just don\u2019t see the need for ongoing interagency meetings like in previous administrations.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted further that, as he sees it, the bigger risk isn\u2019t a lack of intelligence but rather a lack of coordination.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than gaps in intel or knowledge, what I\u2019d worry more about is whether different agencies are singing from the same sheet of music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n