The White House is trimming and restructuring the National Security Council, sources told CBS News on Friday, weeks after President Trump replaced his national security adviser and appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the powerful position.
Some NSC employees are relocating within the administration, but not all, according to sources. Aides were briefed on some of the changes during a meeting at the White House on Friday afternoon.
Andy Baker, national security adviser to Vice President JD Vance, and White House deputy chief of staff Robert Gabriel will both play key roles in the restructured NSC. Three sources confirmed that both will serve as NSC deputies. A White House official confirmed that Baker will continue to work as a Vance aide.
According to sources, approximately 20 people have already been informed that they are on administrative leave. According to one source, some of the reassignments will not be completed until next week.
Among those leaving the NSC are Eric Trager, who was in charge of the Middle East; Alex Wong, the principal deputy national security adviser, who is moving elsewhere in the administration; and Andrew Peek, who was in charge of European affairs.
The NSC’s communications team is also being dissolved as part of the restructuring. Requests for comment were directed to the White House press team.
Axios reported on some of the changes earlier Friday.
“This is terrible. Less people equals less control over the bureaucracy. “The key is to get more loyal people, not fewer,” said a former member of the National Security Council.
Another former member of the NSC, which advises the president on foreign policy and national security issues, stated that the institution is strained, citing deep suspicions of the NSC within both the Trump and Biden administrations.
“Arguably what the NSC has done best in the last 40 years is build the post-9/11 security state and carry out the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — all of which is deeply unpopular on a bipartisan basis now,” the former senator said. “Couple that with a Clinton-era failure to effectively manage the end of the Cold War and recognize the rise of stateless terrorism, the track record really doesn’t look good.”
The abrupt changes occurred three weeks after Rubio took over as national security adviser, succeeding Mike Waltz, who was forced out of the position and nominated as ambassador to the United Nations. That decision was motivated by a perception that Waltz did not thoroughly vet staff, a lack of fit between Waltz and the rest of the team, and Waltz’s role in establishing a Signal group chat that inadvertently included a reporter, according to CBS News.
It is the latest upheaval at President Trump’s National Security Council. According to CBS News, at least a half dozen staff members were fired last month after right-wing media personality Laura Loomer accused them of being insufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump.
There is no set date for Rubio to leave his dual-hatted national security position. He told CBS News on Sunday that he does not have a specific departure date or time.