By ZEKE MILLER and AAMER MADHANI, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s national security adviser is sidelining roughly 160 career government employees on temporary duty at the White House National Security Council, telling them to work from home for the time-being as the administration reviews staffing for the White House arm that provides national security and foreign policy advice to the president, Trump administration officials told The Associated Press
The career employees, commonly referred to as detailees, were summoned on Wednesday to an all-staff meeting in which were to be told that they’ll be expected to be available to the NSC’s senior directors but would not need to report to the White House, the officials said.
Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz had signaled before Inauguration Day that he would look to move holdover civil servants that served in the NSC during President Joe Biden’s administration back to their home agencies. The move is meant to ensure the council is staffed by those who support Trump’s agenda.
By the end of the review, Waltz will look to have a “more efficient, flatter” NSC, one official said.
Officials said that they have already begun bringing detailees from agencies with expertise that the new administration values, including some who had served during the first Trump administration.
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Some directors have already made decisions to inform detailiees they will be sent back to the federal agencies they were on loan from. For example, multiple holdover detailees assigned to counterterrorism directorate were told on Tuesday that their assignment was being cut short and that they will be sent back to their home agencies, according to two people familiar with the move who were not not authorized to comment publicly.
“National Security Advisor Mike Waltz promised and authorized a full review of NSC personnel,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement. “It is entirely appropriate for Mr. Waltz to ensure NSC personnel are committed to implementing President Trump’s America First agenda to protect our national security and wisely use the tax dollars of America’s working men and women. Since 12:01 pm on Monday personnel reviews and decisions based on the evaluations are being made.”
The dozens of NSC staff members affected by the decision are largely subject matter experts who had been loaned to the White House by federal agencies such as the State Department, the FBI and the CIA for temporary duty that typically lasts one to two years.
