Bolton names Commerce official as his national security deputy
National security adviser John Bolton has named Mira Ricardel, the undersecretary of commerce for export administration, as his deputy at the National Security Council, the White House announced on Friday.
The addition of Ricardel, a longtime government official who has served stints at the departments of State, Defense and Commerce, comes less than two weeks into Bolton’s tenure at the NSC.
“I selected her as deputy national security adviser because her expertise is broad-based and includes national security matters related to our alliances, defense posture, technology security, foreign security assistance and arms control,” Bolton said in a statement. “Her policy-making and interagency experience will make her a great addition to the National Security Council.”
The selection is one of Bolton’s first senior-level hires, coming on the heels of a string of announced departures from top NSC officials who served under his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, whom President Donald Trump pushed out earlier this month.
Within days of Bolton’s assuming his perch atop the NSC, several deputies and senior officials unveiled plans to depart the administration.
Tom Bossert, the homeland security adviser and a leading voice on counterterrorism and cybersecurity; Nadia Schadlow, deputy national security adviser for strategy; and Michael Anton, the agency’s spokesman, have all announced plans to depart the NSC in the coming weeks.
Ricardel served at the State Department from 1986 to 1989, after which she took on the role of legislative assistant to Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.). She would go on to work as a defense and foreign policy adviser for Dole’s failed 1996 presidential bid.
In 2001, she re-entered the federal workforce as a deputy assistant secretary of defense for Eurasia and later as acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from 2003 to 2005, earning a medal for distinguished service in 2005
The White House in a statement credited her with playing “a central role in building support for United States and coalition operations in Afghanistan following the attacks of September 11, 2001.”
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Ricardel served as a member of President Donald Trump’s transition team. In 2017, she was nominated to be undersecretary of commerce for export administration.
Ricardel is a graduate of Georgetown University and did doctoral studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.