The US presidential administration has started large-scale cuts in the National Security Council (NSC), dozens of employees have been fired. This was reported by The Washington Post, Reuters and CNN, citing sources.
According to the media interlocutors, the cuts concern both administration appointees and officials seconded from the State Department, the Pentagon and other agencies.
According to CNN, more than a hundred NSC employees have been placed on administrative leave. Reuters writes that among them were experts on key geopolitical issues. They were handed their furlough notice on Friday, 23 May, shortly before the end of the workday. Many of them are likely to return to their departments.
The cuts began following Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s appointment of Mike Walz, who resigned in the wake of the Signal chat room leak scandal, where The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg happened to be the confidential information leaker.
Supporters of the cuts note that the NSC has grown significantly under previous presidents. Under George W. Bush Jr. there were 204 people working at the Council, 222 under Barack Obama, and 186 under Joe Biden. during Donald Trump’s first term, the NSC had 119 people. Now the number wants to reduce to 50-60 people, excluding administrative staff.
Sources of The Washington Post specified that for the effective work of the NSC the White House should transfer more powers to other national security agencies, but this is unlikely because of Trump’s management style.
The White House has not yet commented on the publications about the cuts in the NSC.