![]() diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in four deaths, including that of Ambassador J. Rice was Obama’s choice to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state in 2012, but she withdrew from consideration after Senate Republicans accused her of misleading the public about the 2012 attack on the U.S. It’s a crucial job, but one that came as a consolation prize. That last threat was made agonizingly real once again recently when Omar Mateen, who may have been an ISIS sympathizer, slaughtered 49 people and wounded more than 50 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. One of the president’s most trusted aides, Rice, 51, dispenses advice on issues ranging from failing governments to climate change to homegrown terrorists. Those traits continue to define her now as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser. Rice honed that mixture of smarts and combativeness as a high school point guard and tennis player growing up in Washington, D.C. But she also has a reputation for being brusque and unafraid to use a little rough language to make a point. Immigration is one of the issues where Rice has at times clashed with other administration officials, such as Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, over the approach to handling migrants at the border, for instance. Often described as “tough” and “dogged,” Rice also has endeared herself to some of the White House’s younger staff members and maintained a close relationship with Biden, according to some of her current and former colleagues.Like most of her colleagues in the world of national security, Susan Rice is brainy, charming, and canny. Crafting a strategy for when the policy, known as Title 42, ends has been among one of Rice’s top challenges. The timing of Rice’s exit also means she will remain in her job as Biden contends with an expected influx at the southern border due to the end of pandemic-era restrictions for asylum-seekers. ![]() ![]() A senior administration official said Rice is proud of her work on the border.Īdministration officials said the controversy has nothing to do with Rice’s decision to leave, which they said was already in the works. The timing of Rice’s departure also coincides with a growing controversy over the White House's handling of migrant children who arrive unaccompanied at the southern border amid questions about whether the White House, including Rice, ignored warnings that sponsors of migrant children were making them work grueling jobs in violation of child labor laws. The White House has said that is not the case. Among her first moves in the Biden administration was to adopt a structure at the Domestic Policy Council similar to that of the National Security Council, bringing in policy experts and codifying a process for convening officials across the government. Rice, who was on Biden’s shortlist for vice president, entered the job without a domestic policy background, having served in foreign policy roles during the Obama and Clinton administrations. “The role and the requirements for the role are going to be different, and I think they’ll take that into consideration,” Deese added, referring to the president and his top aides. It’s going to call for a different approach to policy,” said Brian Deese, who worked closely with Rice while serving as director of the National Economic Council. “Susan was there during this two-year period where there was just an incredible and historic burst of policymaking, and the next year and a half is going to be different. Whomever Biden names to serve as domestic policy adviser for the remainder of his term will face much less of the policymaking sprint, including on legislation, that Rice did, and focus more on implementing existing policies and some additional executive actions.
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