Olivier Douliery/Pool via CNP/MediaPunch/IPX via AP
Steve Bannon has been removed from the National Security Council, according to a memorandum released by the White House on Wednesday.
Bannon, Trump’s White House chief strategist, was added to the NSC shortly after Trump took office. The move received criticism both from the media and Congress.
You can read the memo below.
The White House seems to be spinning this story two ways: (1) Bannon was put on the NSC as a check on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Now Flynn is gone, so Bannon is leaving too. (2) Obama’s NSC was bad, bloated, and “operationalized,” and Bannon was there to oversee the transition of it back to a small, sleek, advisory committee. Now the reform project is over, so he is done.
sr WH official tells me Bannon was only on NSC to keep an eye on Flynn & “de-operationalize NSC from Rice” & that he never went to a meeting
— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) April 5, 2017
Same official says the president made the decision, this was the deal from the beginning, and “we all knew Flynn had issues”
— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) April 5, 2017
The first explanation doesn’t make a ton of sense. Flynn was fired back in early February, and presidents typically don’t hire people who can’t be trusted to be national security adviser.
I’m no management expert, but WH putting Bannon on NSC solely out of fear WH’s chosen NSA might do something crazy seems an odd explanation
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) April 5, 2017
