The White House has begun hiring more staff at the National Security Council, people familiar with the matter said, reversing course weeks after President Donald Trump significantly cut the size of the council and as the US confronts a host of foreign-policy crises.

The restaffing is being done at the direction of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has served as acting national security adviser in the months since Mike Waltz was ousted in May. Much of the council was dismissed after Waltz’s exit, as Trump sought to minimize the NSC’s role in foreign-policy decision making.

Some people who were dismissed earlier this year have been approached about coming back, according to people familiar with the conversations.

The new hires are part of a restructuring effort by Rubio and not a direct response to current events, said one staffer, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

After the White House pushed out scores of NSC staffers in May, it was left with only a few dozen, according to a person familiar with the matter. The White House sought to transform the council into a smaller organization focused on implementing Trump’s policies instead of helping to shape them.

National Security Council staff cuts

Earlier: Trump Downsizes National Security Council in Latest Staff Cuts

The move signals that the administration is looking for more help to deal with foreign-policy challenges, including the tense relationship with China, Israel’s continuing conflict in Gaza, the fallout from US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the war in Ukraine.

Since the start of his second term, Trump has repeatedly sidelined the NSC and instead relied on his own instincts and close group of loyalists like US special envoy and longtime friend Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate mogul with no prior diplomatic experience, to carry out diplomatic missions.

Prior to last month’s large-scale downsizing, several top appointees were separately ousted after far-right activist Laura Loomer raised doubts about their loyalty to Trump.

The NSC, which at its most senior level includes the national security adviser, the vice president, secretaries of state and defense and others, was created in 1947 to coordinate foreign, defense and domestic policy across the government to ensure the president looks at multiple factors when making decisions.

The size of the NSC steadily grew from about a dozen staff at its inception to more than 400 under former President Barack Obama. Some Trump allies have long said the NSC was overdue for cutbacks, having grown bloated under previous presidents who relied heavily on it to make policy.

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