The White House considers Bannon's national security views more important than a four-star general's.
Trump's reorganization of the NSC not only put political hack Bannon at the same level as cabinet secretaries (and above them, in some cases), but it also removed the two people most important to its workings (and required to attend by law), the Director of National Intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates points out.
Former Defense Sec. Bob Gates calls sidelining DNI, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs from NSC meetings a "big mistake" https://t.co/cgE5F9sj87 pic.twitter.com/UuviVjcU1E
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 29, 2017
Sean Spicer responded to criticisms that Bannon had been elevated over Joseph Dunford, a four-star general who now serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by pointing out that Bannon served in the Navy in the '70s and '80s.