Homeland Security Advisor

The assistant to the president for homeland security, commonly referred to as the Homeland Security Advisor, is a senior aide in the National Security Council, based in the West Wing of the White House, who serves as principal advisor to the president of the United States on homeland security and counterterrorism issues.

Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
Incumbent Stephen Miller since January 20, 2025
Executive Office of the President Homeland Security Council
Member of	National Security Council Homeland Security Council
Reports to	President of the United States White House Chief of Staff United States National Security Advisor
Appointer	President of the United States
Constituting instrument	Homeland Security Act 2002
Formation	2001
First holder	Tom Ridge
Deputy	Anthony Salisbury

The Homeland Security Advisor is also a statutory member of the United States Homeland Security Council. Serving at the pleasure of the President, the Homeland Security Advisor does not require Senate confirmation for appointment to the office.

History

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush announced the creation of the interim Office of Homeland Security as a cabinet-level office in a speech to a joint session of Congress.^[1] He appointed Tom Ridge as its first director. The Homeland Security Council was formally created on October 5, 2001, replacing the Office of Homeland Security.

Under the George W. Bush administration, the Homeland Security Advisor was independent of the National Security Council, residing within the Homeland Security Council. Under the Obama administration, while the Homeland Security Council remained, the Advisor held the title of Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, subordinating the position to the national security advisor.

At the start of the Trump administration, the position of Homeland Security Advisor, occupied by Tom Bossert, was elevated to the rank of Assistant to the President, making it equal in rank to the National Security Advisor. However, after clashes with the National Security Advisor, John Bolton, the position returned to the rank of Deputy Assistant to the President and was subordinate to the National Security Advisor.^[2]

And most recently under the Biden administration, the Homeland Security Council remained. The Homeland Security Advisor (Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall) concurrently held the title and served as the Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, subordinating the position to the National Security Advisor.

List of homeland security advisors

  Democratic   Republican   Independent

Denotes acting capacity.

No.	Image	Name		Start	End	Duration	President
1			Tom Ridge	October 8, 2001	January 24, 2003	1 year, 126 days		George W. Bush (2001–2009)
2			John Gordon	April 30, 2003	July 28, 2004	1 year, 89 days
3			Fran Townsend	July 28, 2004	March 30, 2008	3 years, 246 days
4			Ken Wainstein	March 30, 2008	January 20, 2009	296 days
5			John Brennan	January 20, 2009	January 25, 2013	4 years, 5 days		Barack Obama (2009–2017)
6			Lisa Monaco	January 25, 2013	January 20, 2017	3 years, 361 days
7			Tom Bossert	January 20, 2017	April 10, 2018	1 year, 49 days		Donald Trump (2017–2021)
–			Rob Joyce Acting	April 10, 2018	May 31, 2018	51 days
8			Doug Fears	June 1, 2018	July 12, 2019	1 year, 41 days
9			Peter Brown	July 12, 2019	February 7, 2020	210 days
10			Julia Nesheiwat	February 20, 2020	January 20, 2021	334 days
11			Liz Sherwood-Randall	January 20, 2021	January 20, 2025	4 years, 0 days		Joe Biden (2021–2025)
12			Stephen Miller	January 20, 2025	Incumbent	126 days		Donald Trump (2025–present)

Titles

• Assistant to the President for Homeland Security (September 20, 2001 – July 28, 2004)
• Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (July 28, 2004 – January 20, 2009)
• Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017)
• Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (January 20, 2017 – May 31, 2018)
• Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (June 1, 2018 – January 20, 2021)
• Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor (January 20, 2021 – January 20, 2025)
• Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor (January 20, 2025 – present)

See also

• Executive Office of the President