WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Trump Administration announced plans to restructure the National Security Council (NSC) in a way that elevates President Trump’s chief political strategist, Stephen Bannon, while essentially demoting the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement:

“Adding Mr. Bannon to the NSC while downgrading the role of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the top intelligence officials is outrageous and potentially dangerous.  The NSC is required to make some of the most serious and sensitive decisions in our government and President Trump is turning it into an entity that is without a non-partisan military voice.

“The President has the right to choose his staff.  But he lacks foreign policy and national security experience so it raises questions when he prioritizes input from political advisors over national security experts.  As we saw with his hasty and sloppy refugee order, he is choosing ideology and unsound policy over the expertise of those with decades of military, intelligence, and foreign policy experience and expertise.

“This is a frightening move that should be reversed.”