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

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.

President Trump is ordering a major overhaul of the National Security Council that will shrink its size, lead to the ouster of some political appointees and return many career government employees bac