President-elect Donald J. Trump has asked some 50 senior Obama officials to stay on temporarily.

Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that the officials will stay on "for the time being." It is a shift in transition tenor for the Trump team; earlier this month, the president-elect's team told politically-appointed ambassadors overseas that their services were terminated as of Trump's inauguration.

The officials who are to be retained include Brett McGuirk, the special envoy in the fight against the Islamic State group. McGuirk's appointment to stay on comes as the United States conducted bombings earlier Thursday against the extremist group in Libya, killing some 80 militants, outgoing Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said.

In a similar vein, Trump also is keeping Adam Szubin, the top official at Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Robert Work, the deputy defense secretary, will stay on and serve as acting defense secretary once Trump is inaugurated Friday afternoon. Work's service could be short, however, as Secretary of Defense-designate James Mattis, already recommended by the Senate Armed Services Committee, is expected to be confirmed shortly after Trump's swearing-in.