Steve Bannon will have a permanent seat on the National Security Council, thanks to an executive memorandum from President Donald Trump.
The National Security Council, or NSC, is the president's main source of foreign policy and national security issues.
Trump's memorandum downgraded the role of the director of national intelligence and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. They'll attend principals committee meetings only "where issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed."
The restructure is similar to how the NSC operated under President George W. Bush. But it comes at a time when Trump's relationship with the intelligence community is rocky.
Trump repeatedly attacked the intelligence community, both during his campaign and after winning the election, over bipartisan reports that Russians interfered with the U.S. election to help Trump win.
And Trump's decision to appoint his chief strategist and senior counselor to the NSC is controversial. Bannon has no political experience and previously ran Breitbart News, which he referred to as "the platform for the alt-right."
The self-described "alt-right" is a white nationalist group. Critics have repeatedly call Bannon a "voice of racism."
