White House National Security Adviser John Bolton announced June 1, 2018, that Coast Guard Rear Adm. Douglas Fears would be taking over the role of homeland security adviser within the Trump administration.

Prior to the appointment, Fears served as the special assistant to the president and senior director for resilience policy at the National Security Council, as well as the captain of three vessels and other leadership positions throughout his Coast Guard career. He had also served as acting homeland security adviser in the weeks prior to his official appointment.

“Doug Fears brings more than three decades of experience across a range of vital homeland security areas including counterterrorism, cybersecurity and disaster response to the NSC,” Bolton said in the news release.

“Doug will serve as the president’s homeland security adviser and my point person on an array of vital tasks ranging from overseeing the NSC Cybersecurity Directorate to coordinating the interagency efforts during disaster response.”

Fears’ appointment begins to fill out a series of vacancies left in White House advisory roles after Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster’s departure from the national security adviser post in April 2018. Former homeland security adviser Tom Bossert and cybersecurity coordinator Rob Joyce announced their departures from the administration not long afterward.

Bolton indicated that he intends to eliminate the cyber coordinator role, though democratic members of Congress have sought to legally mandate that the position be filled, in order to better address cyberthreats facing the nation.

About Jessie Bur

Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.

Share:
In Other News
Load More