WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump has removed chief strategist Stephen Bannon from the National Security Council in a shakeup that consolidated the power of White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster.
The change was disclosed in a notice published in the Federal Register.
During the first weeks of Trump's presidency, Trump was criticized for taking the unusual step of allowing his political adviser to attend all National Security Council meetings, giving Bannon unusual influence over key military and intelligence decisions.
The revamp reduced the role of Trump's homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, lowering his authority to run high-level national security meetings without McMaster's approval.
The filing also adds Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, as regular attendees of the council meetings.
Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News, is widely seen as a disruptive force in the White House, but has been close to Trump since the campaign.
The changes largely bring back a traditional structure to the White House national security system.
