Will there be a "Bolton purge"?

Those fears have come out of reports that Bolton, whose predecessor H.R. McMaster held the top NSC spot for more than a year, is looking to “clean house.” Reported Foreign Policy late last week: “Those targeted for removal include officials believed to have been disloyal to President Donald Trump, those who have leaked about the president to the media, his predecessor’s team, and those who came in under Obama.” Of particular interest, allegedly, are the “Obama holdovers” and McMaster loyalists.

Here’s the problem: There are very few members of the staff of around 100 who even qualify for either of these groups. The misleading term “holdovers” suggests these are political appointees from President Obama’s White House, but in reality these staffers are career officials and experts, many of whom are housed in other executive branch departments and agencies who have been detailed to the NSC. Furthermore, several other political appointees on the NSC staff have served in the Trump White House since the beginning of the administration and can’t be counted as strictly or chiefly McMaster partisans.