Tom Bossert | |
---|---|
7th United States Homeland Security Advisor | |
Assumed office January 20, 2017 |
|
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Lisa Monaco |
Personal details | |
Born | 1974/1975 (age 41–42) |
Political party | Republican |
Education |
University of Pittsburgh (BA) George Washington University (JD) |
Thomas P. "Tom" Bossert (born c. 1975) is an American lawyer and Republican White House staffer. He served as Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush. In that capacity, he co-authored the 2007 National Strategy for Homeland Security. Prior to that, Bossert held positions in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the Independent Counsel, and the House of Representatives. He also was appointed as the Director of Infrastructure Protection under Bush, overseeing the security of critical U.S. infrastructure. Following that, he was appointed the Senior Director for Preparedness Policy within the Executive Office of the President.
Bossert attended the University of Pittsburgh to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics in 1997 and attended George Washington University Law School, earning his Juris Doctor in 2003. Following the end of the Bush administration, Bossert was made a Nonresident Zurich Cyber Risk Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Cyber Security Initiative, a position he held until 2016. He also became president of the risk management consulting firm Civil Defense Solutions.
On December 27, 2016, the Trump transition team announced that President-elect Donald Trump intends to appoint Bossert to the post of Homeland Security Advisor (officially titled the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism), a position that does not require Senate confirmation. Unlike under President Obama, the Homeland Security Advisor will be of equal status and rank as the National Security Advisor under the Trump administration, perhaps indicating that President-elect Trump intends to separate the homeland security advisory staff from the national security advisory staff, as it was before the Obama administration.