Ekaterina Girnyk12:13, 23.01.25

The National Security Council has launched a “full review” of aides to bring the White House team in line with its “America First” agenda.

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser , Michael Waltz, has suspended dozens of NSC staffers responsible for issues such as Iranian and North Korean nuclear proliferation, cyber espionage and Russia’s war in Ukraine from their White House posts and sent them home, the Washington Post reported , citing a statement from the NSC press secretary.

Walz reportedly decided to conduct a “full review” of officials to determine their commitment to implementing Trump’s “America First” agenda, including “wisely using the tax dollars of America’s working men and women.”

The officials, known as aides or seconded staffers, were told in a brief conversation Wednesday that they should leave the building immediately, go home and be on call, the newspaper reported. They were instructed to return only at the request of their bosses, senior directors appointed by the Trump administration, the sources said.

“Waltz’s decision was so sudden that it prevented some staffers from physically leaving the White House complex because their passes no longer worked, according to one official. The situation forced the Secret Service to manually open gates for those whose passes had been deactivated,” WP writes.

At the same time, one former official said, the mass removal of so many career employees during the transition period could make it difficult for the new national security team to address significant issues.

According to WP, Waltz made the decision to conduct the review after some former Trump administration aides said they had heard that he was preparing to retain most of the staff. One of Trump’s aides criticized Waltz for the decision.

The next day, Waltz wrote on the X website that “everyone who serves under President Trump at the NSC will be fully aligned with his America First agenda.”

(C)UNIAN 2025