Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed is condemning President Donald Trump’s move to restructure the National Security Council.
Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee called elevating Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon to the NSC “outrageous and potentially dangerous.”
“The NSC is required to make some of the most serious and sensitive decisions in our government,” Reed said in a written statement. “President Trump is turning it into an entity that is without a non-partisan military voice.”
The restructuring reduces the principal roles played by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and director of National Intelligence, calling on them only as needed.
Reed likened the memorandum announcing the changes to the NSC to Trump’s executive order affecting refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, which Reed has also condemned.
“As we saw with his hasty and sloppy refugee order, he is choosing ideology and unsound policy over the expertise of those with decades of military, intelligence, and foreign policy experience and expertise,” Reed said.
On Friday, Reed released a statement saying he would vote against Trump nominee Betsy DeVos as head of the Department of Education, citing concerns about conflicts of interest. Reed has also said he will vote against Rex Tillerson for secretary of state.
