White House Puts 100+ National Security Staffers On Leave: Reports
The Trump administration placed a dramatic number of National Security Council staffers on administrative leave Friday as part of an agency overhaul, multiple outlets reported.
The house-cleaning was reportedly overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who’s also serving as interim national security adviser following Mike Waltz’s ouster.
A White House official told Axios that about half the department’s 350 members were removed as part of an effort to scale back a department packed with employees who don’t align with President Donald Trump’s political agenda.
“The NSC is the ultimate Deep State,” a White House official told Axios. “It’s Marco vs. the Deep State. We’re gutting the Deep State,” the official said, noting that people removed from the NSC will be placed in other government roles.
Rubio also oversaw massive cuts at the State Department last month.
The NSC is tasked with advising the president on foreign policy and other matters of national security and helping coordinate policies across various government agencies.
But another White House official told Axios the restructured NSC would serve to “coordinate and advise — not carry out — policy.”
People familiar with the matter told CNN that staffers were given less than an hour to clean out their desks. They also said NSC employees were recently re-interviewed by the Office of Presidential Personnel as part of a plan to scale back the department.
Sources familiar with the dismissals also told The Washington Post that affected staffers included both career officials and political appointees.
“The right-sizing of the NSC is in line with its original purpose and the president’s vision,” Rubio told Axios in a statement. “The NSC will now be better positioned to collaborate with agencies.”
Rumblings of Trump’s issues with the NSC began circulating in January, when officials revealed that his officials were questioning department employees about who they voted for in the 2024 election and well as looking into their political donations and social media posts.
Spokespeople for Rubio and the White House did not immediately return requests for comment.
