The change is expected to further reduce the agency's influence, transforming it from a powerful policymaking body into a small organization focused more on implementing the president's agenda than on shaping it.

The White House National Security Council is being restructured, weeks after Marco Rubio took over the powerful national security adviser role.

The dismissals, part of plan to radically downsize the National Security Council, follow President Donald Trump’s recent ouster of his national security adviser.