Assistant to the US President for National Security Robert O'Brien on Thursday announced his intention to reduce the number of employees of the National Security Council under the White House by one third and limit the role of the structure in foreign policy issues.

“We’re going to coordinate policy out of the White House, we’re not going to operationalize national security and foreign policy as the NSC out of the White House. That’s the work of the departments and agencies,” O’Brien told Reuters in an interview. 

According to Reuters, O'Brien plans to reduce the number of National Security Council officers from 178 to 117. Trump’s assistant also intends to return his agency to the original coordinating role that it lost under O'Brien’s predecessor John Bolton, who was dismissed last month by order of the president reports TASS.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that US President Donald Trump ordered in confidence to significantly reduce the number of National Security Council employees as part of a course to increase the effectiveness of the National Security Council, which consists of about 310 people, mainly former staff members of the Department of State, the Pentagon and special services.