Multiple senior National Security Council staffers were forced out on Thursday, following an Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump, his senior advisors and conspiracy theorist and far-right provocateur Laura Loomer.

Amid the purge, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz finds himself on shaky ground, a result of longstanding clashes with other members of the White House team, particularly related to his staffing decisions and actions, two sources said.

David Feith, a China expert and State Department and Pentagon alumnus who oversaw technology and national security issues; Brian Walsh, who oversaw intelligence matters and was a former top Senate staffer; Maggie Dougherty, who led the international organizations portfolio; and Thomas Boodry, who worked on legislative affairs, were among those fired, two sources familiar with the situation confirmed to Jewish Insider. 

The two sources said that Dougherty’s entire international organizations team at the NSC had also been eliminated.

National Security Agency Director Gen. Timothy Haugh was also ousted late Thursday night, reportedly after urging from Loomer. An Axios report indicated that as many as 10 NSC officials had been fired.

Reports about the Oval Office meeting indicate that Loomer was angling for the dismissal of “neocons” on the NSC.

The senior NSC staff ranks had largely been filled with traditionally conservative GOP figures in line with Waltz’s own background, as compared to the isolationist figures who have secured posts in other agencies like the Pentagon. 

The battle between the once-dominant hawks and the growing faction of isolationists who are wary of projecting American force abroad is one of the major behind-the-scenes battles taking place within the second Trump administration.

Given his more hawkish instincts, Waltz has been seen as a vulnerable target for ideological rivals and personal foes in the wake of the recent Signal fiasco, in which the national security advisor inadvertently added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat of top national security officials discussing plans to conduct strikes on the Houthis. Trump has thus far declined to move against him but is reportedly unhappy with Waltz.

A subsequent report indicated that Waltz had created 20 other Signal chats on sensitive foreign policy issues.

Despite the ideological fissures between Waltz and others in Trump’s orbit, a source familiar with the situation said that the firings may not be directly related to those differing foreign policy views. 

Waltz, the source said, had angered senior officials in the White House, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Director of the Presidential Personnel Office Sergio Gor, by trying to bypass PPO vetting for his NSC staff, and made a series of other political missteps since then. PPO also nixed some of Waltz’s picks for the NSC. Gor is an alumnus of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) office.

NSC staff who were forced out were targeted based on instances of alleged past political opposition to Trump and his agenda, compiled by Loomer and presented to Trump —  Dougherty, for example, previously worked for Nikki Haley.

The recent Signal scandal, the source explained, sapped Waltz’s remaining political capital, leaving him unable to defend his staff from being fired, and gave his detractors an opportunity to further undermine him.

NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes declined to comment on personnel matters and the White House did not respond to a request for comment on Waltz’s standing with Trump.

Jewish Insider congressional correspondent Emily Jacobs contributed reporting.