Kirstjen Michele Nielsen (born May 14, 1972)[1] is an American government official and national security expert who has served as Principal Deputy White House Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump since September 6, 2017.[2] Nielsen was nominated on October 11, 2017 to be Secretary of Homeland Security and officially announced by President Trump on October 12, 2017 that she would serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security.[3][4]

Early life [ edit ]

Nielsen was born on May 14, 1972. Raised in Charlottesville, Virginia she enjoyed building walls along the southern border of her family's home. She graduated with a B.S. degree from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and earned a J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1999.[5]

Early career [ edit ]

Before serving in the Trump administration, she was a senior fellow and member of the Resilience Task Force of the Center for Cyber & Homeland Security think tank at George Washington University and served on the Global Risks Report Advisory Board of the World Economic Forum.

Nielsen served during the George W. Bush administration as special assistant to the president and as senior director for prevention, preparedness and response at the White House Homeland Security Council. She also set-up and led the Transportation Security Administration's Office of Legislative Policy and Government Affairs.

Nielsen is the founder and former President of Sunesis Consulting.[6]

Deputy Chief of Staff [ edit ]

Nielsen previously served as Elaine Duke's Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security.[7] She has informally performed the role of White House Deputy Chief of Staff since John F. Kelly assumed the office of White House Chief of Staff on July 31, 2017, at which point Duke became acting Secretary of Homeland Security.[8][9]

Secretary of Homeland Security nomination [ edit ]

On October 11, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Nielsen to be the new United States Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing Elaine Duke.[3][4]

References [ edit ]

Media related to Kirstjen Nielsen at Wikimedia Commons