[Source/Observer Network, Liu Chenghui] After replacing Waltz and temporarily taking over the position of President's National Security Affairs Assistant, Secretary of State Rubio soon took action against the subordinate agencies.
According to multiple sources cited by The Washington Post on May 23, the Trump administration suddenly laid off dozens of White House National Security Council (NSC) staff on that day, aiming to significantly reduce the scale of this institution. Those laid off include career officials as well as some politically appointed personnel; it is currently unclear what the final scale of layoffs will be.
The sources indicated that Rubio was the main driver behind these layoffs. Some believe that this round of layoffs reflects not only Trump's paranoid suspicion of the "deep state" within the NSC but also his intention to return to the small-scale NSC model of the Cold War era, weakening the core role of this institution in policy formulation to ensure that presidential power remains unconstrained.
As of publication time, the White House has not yet made any public comments on this matter.
The Washington Post reported that it is still unclear how extensive this round of layoffs will be or whether they have already been completed. Sources familiar with this personnel change said that most of the NSC staff were seconded from other departments of the federal government to the White House, and it is expected that they will return to their original units, including the State Department, the Pentagon, and intelligence agencies.
Influenced by events such as the "group chat scandal," Trump nominated Waltz to serve as the next U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. ABC News
A White House official confirmed that layoffs are ongoing and stated that two new deputy national security assistants have been appointed: Andy Baker, who previously served as Vice President Vance's national security advisor, and Robert Gabriel, a Trump policy advisor.
Trump's allies urged the administration to follow the model adopted by Brent Scowcroft, who first served as the National Security Advisor in 1977 and again in 1989. Scowcroft believed his role was to provide private advice to the president, and during both terms he held the position, the NSC maintained a small team of workers.
The New York Times reported that the core team of the NSC consists of officials appointed by the president, supplemented by experts seconded from various departments of the government. Since the beginning of Trump's first term in 2017, he has harbored strong distrust towards the NSC.
Longtime followers of Trump revealed that the president viewed this institution as the primary source undermining his policy proposals.
The key evidence in Trump's first impeachment case came from the congressional testimony of Alexander Vindman, then the European Director of the NSC, who testified that Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Zelensky to investigate his 2020 election main potential rival Biden and his family.
In early April, Trump fired several NSC staff after meeting with far-right activist Laura Loomer. It was reported that Loomer provided Trump with a list of people she deemed disloyal at the time.
Since Waltz was dismissed, government officials have already hinted that the NSC would undergo significant downsizing. Some argue that the institution became overly inflated in previous administrations, reaching a peak of about 400 people during the Obama era, leading to excessive intervention in policy formulation.
This month, U.S. media outlets reported that Rubio was preparing to take action against the NSC. According to NBC News on May 14, four sources familiar with the situation revealed that Rubio intended to further streamline the personnel of this institution. At the start of Trump's presidency, the NSC once had around 300 personnel but was quickly reduced to 150. Now, Rubio may further reduce the number to 50-60 people.
On the other hand, Rubio hoped to completely transform the functions of the NSC, turning it from a core hub coordinating multiple government departments to provide advice on foreign affairs and national security for the U.S. president into an execution agency faithfully implementing the president's will and instructions.
It is claimed that Rubio's move was not impulsive. The NSC expanded too rapidly over the past 20 years, increasing from 100 people in 2000 to 370 people in 2010, which even drew dissatisfaction from Congress.
Notably, during Trump's last term as president, the NSC experienced frequent personnel changes and internal strife. During Trump's last term, there were four National Security Advisors, with John Bolton, who served the longest, becoming one of the most outspoken critics of Trump's foreign policy.
A former senior NSC staff member said that this round of layoffs reflected Trump's obsessive belief that the NSC constituted a "deep state" and was also deliberately weakening its ability to form interdepartmental consensus.
This person said, "The purpose of doing so is to ensure that there is no alternative to presidential privilege and that it remains unconstrained."
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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7507818473239396902/
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