Rubio says the change will better fit the National Security Council with Trump’s agenda, but the White House has yet to confirm details.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirms that the Trump administration is “right sizing” the National Security Council (NSC) and provides the first record statement that appears to be a significant restructuring of the influential White House body.
Comments from Rubio, who serves as national security adviser following Mike Waltz’s exit from his role earlier this month, comes amid speculative media coverage that President Donald Trump has reduced its size, ordered a drastic overhaul of the NSC, which will bring many career staff back to his hometown and remove some political appointees.
The White House has not publicly confirmed the size or details of the changes, and the administrative authorities have not responded to requests from the epoch era of confirmations and additional information regarding reported restructurings.
Created in 1947 to coordinate national security policies across the federal government, the NSC has long been a lightning bolt of internal conflicts and power struggles. During Trump’s second term at the White House, the council faces a broad staffing review aimed at coordinating the NSC more closely with the president’s “America First” agenda.
“It’s a huge honor to support the president and the presidency itself, as anyone who has the privilege of working here in the White House knows,” said Brian McCormack, Chief of Staff, National Security Advisor, days after Trump’s all-staff call after taking office on January 20th. “We also know that every president has the right to have staff and advisors that they need to implement the goals Americans have chosen to pursue him.”
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Rubio has not addressed any particular staffing changes in his comments to Axios, but his statement appears to be broadly in line with the administration’s goal of having an NSC that is more closely aligned with the president’s agenda.
No official timeline is provided for cases where a reorganization may be completed, and it remains unclear how the changes will affect NSC’s ongoing work.
Rubio’s dual role as Secretary of State and national security adviser is not unheard of. In the 1970s, Henry Kissinger served in the capabilities of both President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford.
