More than 100 staffers have been abruptly fired, sources involved in the reorganization said on Friday
The Trump administration has moved to drastically overhaul the National Security Council (NSC), placing more than 100 officials on administrative leave and slashing the powerful advisory and coordination body’s staff, as part of what one White House source described as an effort to “gut the Deep State.”
Multiple reports on Friday confirmed that staff across nearly all NSC directorates – including those handling key global hotspots such as Ukraine, Iran and the Indo-Pacific – were dismissed with little notice. According to CNN and Reuters, employees received emails late Friday afternoon informing them they had just 30 minutes to clear their desks.
An administration official described the reorganization to Axios as a strategic shift aimed at reducing bureaucratic interference and concentrating foreign policy decision-making at the highest levels of government, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio – who is also serving as acting national security adviser – playing a central role.
“The NSC is the ultimate Deep State,” the official said. “It’s Marco vs. the Deep State. We’re gutting the Deep State.”
Rubio, who has led efforts to downsize the State Department and USAID, emphasized that the goal is to return the NSC to its “original purpose” as a coordinating body, not a policy-shaping institution.
“The NSC will now be better positioned to collaborate with agencies,” he told Axios in a statement, without confirming the exact scope of the cuts.
According to officials who spoke anonymously, the plan is to cut the NSC staff to around 50 people – down from more than 300 under the Biden administration, and even below the leaner structure Trump implemented during his first term. Entire directorates may be eliminated or consolidated, including those overseeing Africa policy and NATO coordination, multiple sources told Reuters.
Senior administration officials reportedly cited Trump’s recent reversal of Syria sanctions as an example of the new top-down model. “The president gave the order. The cabinet followed. No need for endless layers of committees,” one official told Axios. “This is reverse workflow in action.”
The dismissals came just weeks after Trump fired former national security adviser Mike Waltz and nominated him as ambassador to the United Nations, following leaks involving sensitive military plans. Waltz had reportedly lost influence after inadvertently inviting a journalist into a private chat about Yemen airstrikes.
The abrupt reorganization, carried out just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, marks one of the most sweeping institutional shake-ups of Trump’s second term to date. It reportedly affected both career officials and Trump’s own political appointees. The White House did not comment publicly on the staffing decisions, but Rubio is expected to continue leading the NSC indefinitely, with deputy national security advisers Andy Baker and Robert Gabriel assisting him under the new structure.
