In the midst of early impeachment mania, two things were immediately clear. The President’s National Security Council was not that secure and that many of its members were part of the coup. Mr. Trump declared it fat and swampy (my words) and that it needed thinning.
Fat and swampy it is but the thinning has arrived.
President Trump is making good on his promises to “drain the swamp” and cut Obama-era holdovers from his staffs, especially the critical and recently controversial National Security Council.
Officials confirmed that Trump and national security adviser Robert O’Brien have cut 70 positions inherited from former President Barack Obama, who had fattened the staff to 200.
The article notes that prior to Obama, President Bush had 100 members in his National Security Council. It doesn’t sound like Mr. Trump has reached that number yet but could and should. The body is a constant source of leaks to the press and who knows what else. Stuffed with Obama flunkies who have, since before day one, been working to remove your President from office.
The Vindman brother’s forced departure was just a necessary beginning.
That’s not the only place Mr. Trump needs to clear the decks. John Kelly, while Chief of Staff, is rumored to have been charged by Trump haters with stuffing the White House with as many swamp rats as he could get. More proof that the guy you elected to clean that mess out is a clear and present danger to the ruling class and its fourth branch of government.
Thinning the NSC is a part of that effort but we need to see a good deal more. Four more years would be a good prescription toward advancing that goal.
RedState | Washington Examiner
