White House Shipbuilding Initiatives Loose Steam with NSC Departures

Two senior officials at the White House National Security Council have left their roles in recent days, according to two sources familiar with the moves, the latest departures for a body that has been cut sharply in recent months.

Ian Bennitt, the senior director for maritime and industrial capacity, and Brian McCormack, the NSC’s chief of staff, both departed last week, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel moves.

Bennitt is expected to leave for the private sector, the sources said, while McCormack is slated to become chief of staff for Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, a Trump ally.

Hagerty’s office had already said last week that McCormack would soon take up the chief of staff role for the senator, indicating his departure from the NSC was imminent. Bennitt’s departure has not been previously reported.

While it was not clear what immediate impact the moves would have on national security policy, the departures follow multiple waves of firings that have at times dented morale and left the NSC a shell of its former self.

Some sections of the NSC have been eliminated, while others – such as those overseeing the Middle East and Africa – have been combined, according to several people familiar with the moves.

Very few senior officials at the NSC who were hired at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s administration remain. McCormack and Bennitt were among the last holdouts.

Bennitt’s departure is particularly significant given the Trump administration’s early focus on revitalizing the U.S. Navy and rebuilding the country’s maritime capacity.

marine link