WASHINGTON – President Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien dramatically cut the size of the National Security Council – reducing the number of employees by half in the number during the Obama era, The Post has learned.
Termination of employment is an attempt to streamline the foreign policy outfit that swelled under the Obama administration to nearly 240 staff – still up from 115 during Condoleezza Rice’s tenure as NSA George W. Bush in the early 2000s, a senior White House official said.
At the end of this summer, the NSC will consist of only 105 staff, the official said.
The change came when O’Brien – Trump’s fourth national security adviser – tried to remake the forum in his picture after replacing his fiery predecessor John Bolton, who was ousted last October after a major dispute with the president.
As part of these efforts, women now make up 50 percent of the NSC’s senior leadership for the first time in history, including members of the coronavirus task force Dr. Deborah Birx, who was brought to the NSC from the State Department by O’Brien in February.
Twelve of the 24 council directorates are now headed by women.
The employment reduction is not based on performance and will be done by returning staff on assignments from the state and defense departments and the FBI, an official said.
Trump reportedly instructed O’Brien to substantially reduce the size of the agency shortly after he arrived at the White House – O’Brien’s efforts were detailed in Washington Post opinion section.
At that time, foreign policy operations were at the center of the impeachment investigation which was triggered by the complainant’s complaints related to the work of the agency.
“Under the previous administration, the NSC had more than doubled in size and duplicated many of the functions of the DoD, the State and the intelligence community,” O’Brien told The Post on Tuesday.
“Under President Trump, we have brought the NSC back to the right size and role as a coordinating body,” he continued.
“To make it happen, we need the best leaders, many of whom are women. “Our goal is to always find the best professionals for every job, and I am very proud of the team that we have gathered at NSC to continue President Trump’s agenda,” he said.
In 2016, Republicans in both houses of Congress introduced a bill that would cut the NSC staff to no more than 150 people – a law opposed by the Obama administration.
Created by President Harry Truman in 1947, the NSC is an interagency panel that advises and assists the president on national security and foreign policy.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the dramatic reduction in the NSC showed that Trump was changing Washington’s image.
“In business, President Trump always recognizes that some of our best leaders are women, and he brings that view to his Presidency,” he told The Post.
“On his watch, the NSC team was streamlined again and more capable than ever before, and many were related to strong women’s leadership,” he continued.
