President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have begun a restructuring of the National Security Council, cutting nearly half of its current 350 members.
A White House official involved in the planning said the cuts are designed to target Washington’s so-called “deep state.” The White House believes the NSC is full of long-term, bureaucratic staffers who don’t align with Trump’s agenda. The restructuring is expected to reduce the agency’s influence, transforming it from a powerful policymaking body into a small organization focused more on implementing the President’s agenda than on shaping it.