Steve Bannon, a chief strategist to US President Donald Trump, has been permanently dropped from the White House National Security Council. His removal comes as part of a wider overhaul of council staff.
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Washington: Bannon off National Security Council
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US President Donald Trump overhauled his National Security Council (NSC) on Wednesday, dropping chief strategist Steve Bannon.
A new memorandum published by the Federal Register no longer listed Bannon as a member of the NSC's Principals Committee.
The move reverses Trump's earlier decision to include Bannon on the council. Bannon was initially placed on the NSC immediately after Trump's inauguration to implement the new president's plan to downsize and streamline the council's operations.
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However, the former editor of the right-wing Breitbart News website was regarded by many to be the driving force behind the White House's more populist policies and unsuitable to play a role in national security matters.
The NSC's powerful Principals Committee, which is namely comprised of secretaries of state and defense, is tasked with advising the president on key security and foreign policy decisions. Trump's decision to grant his political adviser a seat on the committee was a highly unusual move.
'Not needed' after Flynn departure
Vice President Mike Pence said Bannon would continue to play an important role in policy and played down the shake-up as routine.
"This is just a natural evolution to ensure the National Security Council is organized in a way that best serves the president in resolving and making those difficult decisions," Pence said on "Fox News."
Bannon said in a statement he had succeeded in returning the NSC back to its traditional role of coordinating foreign policy rather than running it. He cited President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, for why he advocated a change.
"Susan Rice operationalized the NSC during the last administration so I was put on NSC to ensure it was 'de-operationalized.' General McMaster has NSC back to its proper function," he said.
A senior White House official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Reuters news agency that Trump believed Bannon's presence on the NSC was no longer needed following the departure of his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Flynn was forced to resign in February after it emerged he had misled the administration about his communication with Russian officials. The official said that Bannon's removal had nothing to do with the revelations surrounding Flynn.
Rather, Bannon reportedly struggled to work together with Flynn's successor, H.R. McMaster. The new national security adviser had reportedly told security experts that he felt he was in a battle to the death with Bannon and other White House staff.
A positive step
US Representative Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, called the shift in the NSC a positive step that would help McMaster "gain control over a body that was being politicized by Bannon's involvement."
"As the administration's policy over North Korea, China, Russia and Syria continues to drift, we can only hope this shake-up brings some level of strategic vision to the body," he said.
Trump's policy actions since February
Trump brought a new flurry of executive orders, memoranda and bill signings into effect in the last five weeks. Some were alterations of previous attempted policies, such as the travel ban. Here are the highlights.
Image: Reuters/C. Barria
Lucky number six - second time's a charm?
After his first travel ban was slapped down by several courts, Trump issued a revised order banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries. This time, Trump dropped Iraq from a list that included seven blacklisted countries first time around. The new order temporarily suspended the entire US refugee program, but exempted those with visas and who had already been formally accepted as refugees.
Image: Reuters/C. Barria
Turning promises into policy
From February and into March, President Trump further advanced his political objectives through a combination of executive orders, memoranda, memos, and the signing of bills into law. He also used his executive authority to undo guidelines issued under the Obama administration.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
Multiple policy-making methods
In February, Trump signed 11 new executive orders (broad ranging directives that help the executive branch manage federal government operations) and issued one memorandum (a more direct executive action aimed at a specific agency) targeting the Department of Labor. The US President also signed five bills sent to his Oval Office desk by Congress, which will now become law.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
Kicking off financial de-regulation
President Trump's first February executive order established "core principles" for regulating the financial system and requires the Treasury Department to review and report on key provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act. Republicans had criticized the act, which was implemented in the aftermath of the Great Recession, for strangling financial flexibility and inhibiting economic growth.
Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
Expanding the power of the criminal justice system
Through a series of three executive orders, Trump followed up on his campaign promise to crack down on what he had described as rampant crime in the US. He ordered Attorney General Jeff Sessions to create a Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety and heralded stronger combating of transnational crime. Trump also called for new federal crime criteria to prevent violence against police.
Image: Getty Images/J. Lott
Changing succession in the Department of Justice
On February 9, Trump signed Executive Order 13775 reversing changes to the Justice Department's line of succession that President Obama had made mere days before leaving office. Trump had already side-stepped Obama's order when he removed and replaced acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she had refused to defend Trump's travel ban.
Image: Getty Images/P. Marovich
Slashing agency regulations
Executive Order 13777, signed February 24, builds off of his previous January 30 order prioritizing massive deregulation across the federal government. The February order introduces Regulatory Reform Officers into federal agencies and creates reform task forces. Together, these bodies will advise on the "repeal, replacement or modification" of regulations perceived as prohibitive or ineffective.
Image: Getty Images/D. McNew
Dismantling environmental protection
Trump began undoing environmental protections on two fronts. Firstly, he issued an executive order directing the Environmental Protection Agency to review a rule that empowers the federal government to protect waterways. Though unlikely to have immediate effects, the order could eventually weaken the 1972 Clean Water Act. Trump also signed a bill invalidating an Obama-era stream protection rule.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/S. Helber
Promoting historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs)
Surronded in the Oval Office by leaders from historically black educational institutions, Trump signed Executive Order 13779 in order to "promote excellence and innovation" at HBCUs. Primary goals including increasing private-sector participation in the institutions, broadly improving HBCUs capabilities, improving the relationships between HBCUs and the federal government.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Guerrucci
Striking transgender guidelines
In a two-page letter to US public schoos, the Trump administration revoked a controversial Obama-era federal directive allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choosing. The White House jusitified the action through a pending court case, despite the guidelines already being on hold. The letter did not lay out new guidelines, meaning states can choose their policies.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS
Reversing bill stopping mentally-ill people buying guns
On February 28 Trump signed a measure to block an Obama-era regulation that would have prevented about 75,000 people with mental disorders from purchasing firearms. In an effort to curb gun violence, the Obama administration asked the Social Security Administration to disclose information about people with certain mental illnesses to the gun background system.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Krzaczynski
Releases aggressive guidelines on deportation
In the third week of February the Department of Homeland Security released Trump's plans to aggressively enforce deportation policies regardless of the severity of an immigrant's criminal history. The guidelines kicked off a nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Image: picture alliance/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/AP/dpa/C. Reed
Supports women in STEM fields
Trump signed two bills promoting women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). One required NASA to encourage young women to study STEM fields and pursue careers that will help advance science and space exploration. The second required the National Science Foundation to encourage its entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women to work in the commercial world.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Guerrucci
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According to Reuters, a number of senior security advisers have chided the Trump administration in recent days over its failure to shape a coherent policy on pressing issues, including Syria and North Korea. The news agency's White House source said that Wednesday's shake up was intended to move the NSC "back to its core function of what it's supposed to do."
Despite his dismissal from the NSC, AP's White House official told the agency that Bannon would remain one of Trump's closest advisers.
The new memo also elevates the director of National Intelligence, Dan Coates, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Joseph Dunford, to the Principal's Committee.
According to Bloomberg, among those also dropped from the NSC panel alongside Bannon was homeland security adviser Tom Bossert.