Incoming Trump team questioning civil servants at National Security Council about their loyalty

Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about whom they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan is making a robust case for the incoming Trump administration to hold over career government employees assigned to the NSC at least through the early going of the new administration. “Our folks know who we want out in the agencies, we’re putting those requests in, and in terms of the detailees they’re all going to go back.” A Trump transition official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said the incoming administration felt it was “entirely appropriate” to seek officials who share the incoming president’s vision and would be focused on common goals. Alexander Vindman said in a statement Friday that the Trump team’s approach to staffing the NSC “will have a chilling effect on senior policy staff across the government.” He added, “Talented professionals, wary of being dismissed for principled stances or offering objective advice, will either self-censor or forgo service altogether.” The two men were heralded by Democrats as patriots for speaking out and derided by Trump as insubordinate.