Once in office, McFarland's style annoyed some of the more non-political staffers on the NSC.
She repeated the "Make America Great Again" mantra to career employees and mentioned that she was wearing shoes from the Ivanka Trump apparel line, giving other NSC staffers the impression she was too political.

On February 14, 2017, Flynn announced his resignation after he became embroiled in controversy regarding discussions he had with Russian officials, but one report quoted McFarland as intending to stay on, at Trump's request.
Further reports indicated that a requirement for any replacement in the position was that McFarland be kept on as that person's number two, which was a disincentive for some potential nominees, including Vice Admiral Robert Harward.
General H. R. McMaster was eventually named Flynn's replacement.

In mid-March 2017, Dina Habib Powell was named as another Deputy National Security Advisor, with an emphasis on strategy.
 According to Politico, the appointment had been "designed to effectively push out McFarland", who was "seen as a weak deputy".
The increasing problems surrounding Flynn also made McFarland vulnerable due to the ties between the two.

On April 9, 2017, it was reported that McFarland had been asked to step down from her position after less than three months in the role but that she had been offered a position as the U.S. Ambassador to Singapore.
McFarland said she viewed the move in a positive light, as a "promotion", and a White House official encouraged the interpretation.
She would remain as Deputy National Security Advisor for some amount of time, although probably not all the way until her planned ambassadorial confirmation.

The shuffle was supposed to take place in a fortnight, but that intention did not work out, and after a month went by the shift had still not happened, reportedly pending McMaster's selection of a replacement for McFarland.
McFarland continued to perform some duties during this time, such as meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia.
She also gave Trump a known online hoax about mainstream media's supposed hypocrisy about climate change in respect to the 1970s global cooling conjecture.
According to another report, McFarland was still favored by Trump, who did not understand why her departure was necessary.
Once in office, McFarland's style annoyed some of the more non-political staffers on the NSC. She repeated the "Make America Great Again" mantra to career employees and mentioned that she was wearing shoes from the Ivanka Trump apparel line, giving other NSC staffers the impression she was too political.
On February 14, 2017, Flynn announced his resignation after he became embroiled in controversy regarding discussions he had with Russian officials, but one report quoted McFarland as intending to stay on, at Trump's request. Further reports indicated that a requirement for any replacement in the position was that McFarland be kept on as that person's number two, which was a disincentive for some potential nominees, including Vice Admiral Robert Harward. General H. R. McMaster was eventually named Flynn's replacement.
In mid-March 2017, Dina Habib Powell was named as another Deputy National Security Advisor, with an emphasis on strategy.  According to Politico, the appointment had been "designed to effectively push out McFarland", who was "seen as a weak deputy". The increasing problems surrounding Flynn also made McFarland vulnerable due to the ties between the two.
On April 9, 2017, it was reported that McFarland had been asked to step down from her position after less than three months in the role but that she had been offered a position as the U.S. Ambassador to Singapore. McFarland said she viewed the move in a positive light, as a "promotion", and a White House official encouraged the interpretation. She would remain as Deputy National Security Advisor for some amount of time, although probably not all the way until her planned ambassadorial confirmation.
The shuffle was supposed to take place in a fortnight, but that intention did not work out, and after a month went by the shift had still not happened, reportedly pending McMaster's selection of a replacement for McFarland. McFarland continued to perform some duties during this time, such as meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia. She also gave Trump a known online hoax about mainstream media's supposed hypocrisy about climate change in respect to the 1970s global cooling conjecture. According to another report, McFarland was still favored by Trump, who did not understand why her departure was necessary.
K. T. McFarland