Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford is said to be fine with President Trump’s reorganization the National Security Council, a reshuffling that no longer lists him as a standing member of the Principals Committee.
The change was included in a presidential memo signed Saturday, which reverts to language from the last Republican administration that recognizes the chairman and the director of national intelligence as “statutory” advisers to the NSC, but says they will attend the committee only “when issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed.”
“If you go back and do a comparison of the way that the role of the chairman is described in this executive order to the original signed by then-President Bush in 2001, they are identical,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. “There’s been no change effectively to the role of the chairman in 16 years.”
A source close to Dunford insists the chairman does not feel slighted or that his role has been diminished in any way, and in fact is glad to be relieved of the duty to attend meetings on non-military issues.
The Pentagon underscored that point on Monday, insisting that Dunford remains the principal military adviser to both President Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
“I will tell you from Secretary Mattis’ standpoint, he considers the chairman to be his most important military adviser,” Davis said. “And he consults with the chairman on every decision he makes.”
The Joint Chiefs chairman and director of national intelligence are the only two members required by law to be on the National Security Council, and White House officials say both men can attend any meeting they want, without an invitation.
The Pentagon says Mattis does not plan to attend NSC sessions without Dunford.
“Whether it’s the full NSC, or the PC, he intends to always have the chairman by his side when he is discussing anything that has anything to do with national security,” Davis said.
“We don’t see this as a change.”
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates had a different reaction on Sunday to the news.
“Adding people to the National Security Council never really bothers me,” Gates said on ABC’s “This Week.” “My biggest concern is there are actually, under the law, only two statutory advisers to the National Security Council and that’s the director of [national] intelligence, or the DNI, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“I think pushing them out of the National Security Council meetings except when their specific issues are at stake is a big mistake,” he said. “I think that they both bring a perspective and judgment and experience to bear that every president, whether they like it or not, finds useful.”
More of the outcry over the weekend was less focused on the role of the chairman and more on the fact that the president’s top advisers will be in the meetings. The order says Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and counselor Kellyanne Conway will be regular members.
“The appointment of Mr. Bannon is something which is a radical departure from any National Security Council in history,” Sen. John McCain said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
