Biden Appoints John Kirby as NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications at White House

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby holds a press briefing at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on May 19, 2022. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

President Joe Biden on May 20 announced John Kirby as the new National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House.

After media speculation on the move, the White House confirmed Kirby will “coordinate interagency efforts to explain United States policy” and be a senior Biden administration voice on related matters.

“John Kirby is uniquely qualified for this position, and I look forward to bringing his background, knowledge, and experience to the White House,” Biden said in a statement.

The president added that Kirby “understands the complexities of U.S. foreign and defense policy,” citing his work at the State Department and the Pentagon. He also served in uniform for almost three decades.

Kirby will be based at the National Security Council (NSC) and report to NSC advisor Jake Sullivan.

“I am proud to welcome John to the team. I’m excited to see him get to work on behalf of the president and the entire national security enterprise,” Sullivan said.

Kirby, who is currently the press secretary for the Department of Defense, said he is “incredibly honored” to be appointed to the new role.

“I am very grateful to President Biden for his confidence in me and to Secretary Austin for his tremendous support and leadership these last 18 months,” Kirby said.

Kirby also thanked his soon-to-be-former boss Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, for whom he was an adviser, for trusting him to speak for the department.

“Those are precious responsibilities, the weight of which I felt and respected every day. I thank him for that,” he said.

The new NSC coordinator for strategic communications has also served as press secretary for the State Department and the Pentagon. He also served in the Navy for 28 years before retiring as a rear admiral in 2015.

Kirby steps into the role at a time of heightened tensions in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, with increased aggression from Russia and China.

The Pentagon in March prioritized China’s communist regime as the foremost challenge to the nation, according to an unclassified fact sheet released by the Pentagon (pdf).

The Biden administration’s proposed defense budget of $773 billion for 2023 focuses on China as the key pacing challenge.

Some experts have said that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a “distraction” from the Chinese communist regime’s threat, citing the U.S. intelligence community’s 2022 threat assessment identifying China as the number one existential threat to the United States.