President Donald Trump is planning to name a Florida official in charge of preparing the state for the effects of climate change as his homeland security adviser, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
Julia Nesheiwat, who holds the title of Florida’s chief resilience officer, will replace Coast Guard Rear Adm. Peter Brown, who held the position for about six months. The position was also previously held by Doug Fears and Tom Bossert.
In her new role, Nesheiwat will work to protect the US from terrorist threats, strengthen cyberdefenses and respond to natural disasters.
She has worked at the State Department in the Trump administration and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the George W. Bush administration.
In Florida, she worked for Gov. Ron DeSantis preparing the state for natural disasters, specifically the “environmental, physical and economic impacts of sea level rise.”
Nesheiwat is also a former US Army intelligence officer who served tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a senior operations officer, she managed assessments of terrorist networks in Asia and the Middle East and worked as the US military liaison officer with regional political parties on governance and threat reduction.
At the beginning of his administration, Trump split up the Homeland Security Council and National Security Council, which President Barack Obama had merged after taking office in 2009.
The decision elevated the homeland security adviser post to the same stature as the President’s national security adviser, currently Robert O’Brien, who Nesheiwat worked with at the State Department.
