NATIONAL SECURITY/TRUMP PEOPLE/STEVE BANNON: “President Trump’s decision to remove chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council’s principals committee suggests a potentially significant change in the power balance among the four top White House advisers.
Bannon’s placement on the principals committee at the start of the Trump administration drew criticism not only from Democrats but also from many Republicans and prominent members of the intelligence community. The idea that Bannon, who, prior to his hiring as the chief political strategist to Trump’s campaign, had been the CEO of a conservative news website, would sit on a committee typically reserved only for the upper echelon of the military, raised questions about the scope of his influence within the White House.
It was part of a broader ascension of Bannon within the West Wing; he was widely regarded in the early days of the administration as a first among equals in a group that included chief of staff Reince Priebus, counselor Kellyanne Conway and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
That ascension has clearly faltered. The removal of Bannon from the NSC comes in the wake of a series of other moves — most notably the arrival of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, in the West Wing — that suggest that the president is moving away (at least for the moment) from the more hard-line ideological bent of Bannon.”
-Chris Cillizza, “What Steve Bannon’s demotion tells us about the Trump White House,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, April 5, 2017 3:23pm