WASHINGTON — (CNN) President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named a former official in President George W. Bush’s White House as his top adviser on homeland security, counterterrorism and cybersecurity.
Trump tapped Tom Bossert, the deputy homeland security adviser in the final year of the Bush administration, to serve as Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. Trump will also split up the Homeland Security Council and National Security Council, which President Barack Obama merged after taking office in 2009.
The decision will officially elevate the homeland security adviser post to the same stature as the President’s national security adviser, a role retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn will fill. Flynn will focus on international security issues while Bossert will primarily oversee domestic security threats, the Trump transition said in a statement. Like Flynn’s position, Bossert’s does not require congressional approval.
But while Trump will split up the homeland and national security advisory groups, it’s unclear to what extent the homeland security adviser will have a higher cachet in a Trump White House.
Lisa Monaco, the current homeland security adviser, is already a senior White House adviser and has direct access to President Barack Obama and the Oval Office, according to administration officials. But she is also a deputy national security adviser, a title Bossert would not have to put him on equal footing with Flynn.
A senior Trump transition source said the reorganization is reflective of the number of national security issues Flynn will have to deal with, including security concerns tied to China, Russia and the Middle East. Bossert’s experience in cybersecurity and his handling of that portfolio as a senior adviser to the President will also raise the profile of that issue.
But the hire could also be a sign that Trump officials are seeking an experienced, well-respected former White House official to balance out the controversial selection of Flynn, a hard-charging former military intelligence official whose ties to Russia and extreme views on Islam have made him a lightning rod of criticism.
David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official who has written about White House decision-making, expressed concern that splitting up the homeland security and national security councils again would make the White House more unwieldy.
“At the end of the day, I worry that what you’re going to end up with is disorder, redundancy, too many people clamoring for the attention of the President and competing agendas,” Rothkopf said, adding success of the new structure will depend on how well access to Trump is managed by the White House chief of staff.
Bossert’s appointment also elevates a defender of the Iraq War, which Trump pilloried during his campaign for president as a mistake, to a senior White House position.
Bossert as recently as 2015 asserted in a Washington Times opinion piece that the use of military force in Iraq “was and remains just” and also said it was “necessary” at the time. Trump claimed during the campaign that he opposed the Iraq War, even though he expressed tepid support for the war before it was launched and praised the military effort immediately after the invasion.
The appointment will bring Bossert back to government service after eight years in the private sector, during which he founded and ran a private security consulting and risk management firm and became a senior fellow on cybersecurity issues at the Atlantic Council think tank.
Trump said Bossert will be “an invaluable asset to our Administration.”
“Tom brings enormous depth and breadth of knowledge and experience to protecting the homeland to our senior White House team,” Trump said in a statement. “He has a handle on the complexity of homeland security, counterterrorism, and cybersecurity challenges.”
Bossert said he looks forward to “maintaining a strong, deeply respectful relationship” with state and local government officials and first responders and suggested he would seek more private sector involvement to address US cybersecurity concerns.
“We must work toward cyber doctrine that reflects the wisdom of free markets, private competition and the important but limited role of government in establishing and enforcing the rule of law, honoring the rights of personal property, the benefits of free and fair trade, and the fundamental principles of liberty. The internet is a U.S. invention, it should reflect these U.S. values as it continues to transform the future for all nations and all generations,” Bossert said in a statement provided by the Trump transition.
Prior to serving as deputy homeland security adviser in the Bush administration, Bossert headed FEMA’s office of legislative affairs before overseeing infrastructure protection policy and emergency preparedness at the White House.
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