WASHINGTON — President Trump is getting a new homeland security adviser after the departure of former Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert. The White House announced late Friday that Rear Adm. Douglas Fears will take the post.
Fears has been serving as the special assistant to the president and senior director for resilience policy at the National Security Council. He has also been serving as acting homeland security adviser since last month. Bossert left the post earlier this year when national security adviser John Bolton came on board as Mr. Trump’s national security adviser.
“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 a statement provided by the White House. “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 is an alumnus of the U.S. Naval War College, U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Harvard University.
CBS News’ Margaret Brennan has reported that Bossert did not resign, but rather, was pushed out. Although he was widely considered effective in his duties, Bossert’s portfolio also lapped with former national security adviser H.R. McMaster’s. Bolton’s arrival triggered the decision to push out Bossert.
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