Trump gives former Breitbart chief Bannon a seat on the National Security Council
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In a presidential memorandum issued Saturday night, President Trump gave a permanent seat on the National Security Council (NSC) to Stephen Bannon, chief White House strategist and the controversial former head of Breitbart News.
The memo restructured the NSC, adding Bannon to "the principals committee" while removing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as the director of national intelligence, who will now be limited to meetings "where issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed."
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday he finds the decision worrisome and a "radical departure from any national security council in history." Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice labeled the reorganization "stone cold crazy."
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
