President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are cutting deep into the National Security Council, axing more than 100 staffers in a major shake-up aimed at eliminating what they call the “ultimate Deep State.” The move is part of a sweeping effort to restore the NSC to its original role and strip away the bureaucratic fat that ballooned during the Biden years.

The NSC, which swelled to over 350 personnel under Biden, is now being slashed to about half that size—with an end goal of reducing it to just a few dozen. According to White House officials, the cuts are being made to restore the NSC’s proper purpose: to coordinate and advise, not to dictate or execute foreign policy.

“The NSC is the ultimate Deep State,” one White House official said. “It’s Marco vs. the Deep State. We’re gutting the Deep State.”

Instead of allowing unelected career bureaucrats to act as shadow policymakers, the Trump-Rubio team is putting the power back in the hands of elected officials and Cabinet leaders. “The right-sizing of the NSC is in line with its original purpose and the president’s vision,” Rubio said in a statement to Axios. “The NSC will now be better positioned to collaborate with agencies.”

That collaboration means a return to structure and accountability, where agencies like the State Department and the Pentagon—not the NSC—take the lead in executing foreign policy. A senior White House official said the new model moves away from the inefficient layers of subcommittees and review councils that bogged down decision-making.

“It’s now what the president wants, get it done,” the official said. “Not a bureaucratic maze where nothing ever happens.”

Rubio is expected to continue as acting National Security Advisor, with Andy Baker—who also advises Vice President JD Vance—and Robert Gabriel as his deputies. Gabriel serves as Assistant to the President for Policy.

This isn’t the first major staffing overhaul under the Trump administration’s second term. Recently, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard fired several staffers at the National Intelligence Council, an action that reportedly left former CIA Director John Brennan “absolutely livid.” Brennan’s outrage only added to the sense that the status quo was finally being disrupted.

The broader effort appears to be about restoring order, clarity, and unity across departments. Where the Biden administration allowed the bureaucracy to grow unchecked and, at times, to countermand the President’s goals, Trump’s team is reasserting executive control. Cabinet heads are now moving in lockstep with the President, as evidenced by their more direct and assertive roles in recent congressional hearings.

This restructuring is also aimed at producing better policy outcomes. By eliminating internal turf wars and redundant staffing, Trump and Rubio are streamlining operations across the foreign policy apparatus. Supporters say that removing personnel who had been pushing their own agendas behind the scenes will bring greater consistency and coherence to American foreign policy.

While critics and entrenched Washington insiders are already howling about the changes, that’s music to the ears of Trump loyalists. For them, this is a long-overdue dismantling of the bureaucratic machinery that’s been obstructing the America First agenda since day one.

And judging by the reaction from the D.C. establishment, the shake-up is hitting exactly where it hurts.