The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA), commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor (NSA), is a senior aide in the Executive Office of the President, based at the West Wing of the White House. The national security advisor serves as the principal advisor to the President of the United States on all national security issues.
John David Podesta Jr. is an American political consultant who has served as senior advisor to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation since September 2022. Podesta previously served as White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001 and counselor to President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2015. Before that, he served in the Clinton administration as White House staff secretary from 1993 to 1995 and White House deputy chief of staff for operations from 1997 to 1998.
Susan Elizabeth Rice is an American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official. A member of the Democratic Party, Rice served as the 22nd Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council from 2021 to 2023, as the 27th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013, and as the 23rd U.S. National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2017.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congress on May 11, 1976, with a broad mandate to advise the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.
John Forbes Kerry is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the administration of Barack Obama. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he previously represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1985 to 2013 and later as the first U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate from 2021 to 2024. Kerry was the Democratic nominee for president of the United States in the 2004 election, losing to then-incumbent president George W. Bush.
The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The White House Office is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, who is also the head of the Executive Office of the President. The staff work for and report directly to the president, including West Wing staff and the president's senior advisers. Almost all of the White House Office staff are political appointees of the president, do not require Senate confirmation and can be dismissed at the discretion of the president.
Kurt Michael Campbell is an American diplomat and businessman currently serving as the deputy secretary of state since 2024. He previously served as National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific from 2021 to 2024. In this capacity, Campbell had been referred to as the Biden administration's "Asia coordinator" or "Asia czar"—chief architect of Joe Biden's Asia strategy.
Brian Christopher Deese is an American economic and political advisor who was the 13th director of the National Economic Council, serving under President Joe Biden.
Energy Czar, and also later Climate Czar, is a nickname, using the political term "czar", for the person in the government of the United States given authority over energy or climate policy within the executive branch. This has never been the official title of any office, but has often been informally used to refer to various officials since the 1970s.
Antony John Blinken is an American lawyer and diplomat currently serving as the 71st United States secretary of state. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. Blinken was previously national security advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2013.
Brett H. McGurk is an American diplomat, attorney, and academic who served in senior national security positions under presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. He currently serves as deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.
Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan is an American attorney who currently serves as the United States National Security Advisor, reporting directly to President Joe Biden. He previously served as Director of Policy to President Barack Obama, National Security Advisor to then Vice President Biden and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Hillary Clinton at the U.S. Department of State. Sullivan also served as senior advisor to the U.S. federal government at the Iran nuclear negotiations and senior policy advisor to Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, as well as visiting professor at Yale Law School.
Amos J. Hochstein is an Israeli-American businessman, diplomat, and former lobbyist. Currently the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Adviser for Energy and Investment under U.S. President Joe Biden, he has worked in the U.S. Congress, has testified before congressional panels and has served in the Barack Obama administration under Secretaries of State Clinton and Kerry. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in 2011 and as Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs in 2013. In 2015, President Barack Obama nominated Hochstein to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources but the Senate did not act on the nomination.
Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president for two terms under President Barack Obama, took office following his victory in the 2020 presidential election over Republican incumbent president Donald Trump. Upon his inauguration, he became the oldest president in American history, breaking the record set by Ronald Reagan. Biden entered office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis, and increased political polarization.
The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020, and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week of November and the inauguration on January 20, Biden's presidential transition was shortened somewhat because the General Services Administration under the outgoing Trump administration did not recognize Biden as the "apparent winner" until November 23.
The White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It is headed by the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor, which is president's chief advisor on domestic climate change policy. In addition, the National Climate Advisor serves as vice-chair of the National Climate Task Force.
The foreign policy of the Joe Biden administration emphasizes the repair of the United States' alliances, which Biden argues were damaged during the Trump administration. The administration's goal is to restore the United States to a "position of trusted leadership" among global democracies in order to address challenges posed by Russia and China. Both Biden and his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have repeatedly emphasized that no other world power should be able to surpass the United States, either militarily or economically. Biden's foreign policy has been described as having ideological underpinnings in mid-twentieth century liberal internationalism, American exceptionalism, and pragmatism.
In April 2021, more than three hours of audiotape was leaked from a seven-hour interview between economist Saeed Leylaz and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The taped conversation was connected to an oral history project, titled "In the Islamic Republic, the military field rules," that documents the work of then-president Hassan Rouhani and his government. The tape was obtained by the London-based news channel Iran International and publicized by The New York Times. Zarif did not dispute the authenticity of the leaked tape, but questioned the motive. Iran International noted that Zarif's claim was "not very credible."
Alexandra Nicole Baker, known as Sasha Baker, is an American policy advisor who currently serves as deputy under secretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense.
