The Biden-Harris transition team announced 21 more appointees to the incoming administration’s National Security Council (NSC) Jan. 8, including two that are sure to play significant roles in cybersecurity policy.
The transition team has tapped Tarun Chhabra as Senior Director for Technology and National Security, and Caitlin Durkovich as Senior Director of Resilience and Response.
Both Chhabra and Durkovich come to the NSC with experience working in the Obama-Biden Administration as well as in the think tank sphere. They will now each play key roles in advising the incoming administration on national security and foreign policy.
“The National Security Council plays a critical role in keeping our nation safe and secure. These crisis-tested, deeply experienced public servants will work tirelessly to protect the American people and restore America’s leadership in the world. They will ensure that the needs of working Americans are front and center in our national security policymaking, and our country will be better for it,” President-elect Joe Biden said in the release.
Chhabra returns to the NSC after first serving as both Director of Strategic Planning and Director for Human Rights and National Security Issues on the Obama Administration’s NSC. Chhabra has also served in the Pentagon as the Secretary of Defense’s speechwriter. Chhabra will be coming to the post from Georgetown University, where he serves as a senior fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology. He previously held fellowships at the Brookings Institute and the University of Pennsylvania.
Durkovich comes to the NSC from the Atlantic Council think tank and currently serves on the transition team as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) review team. She served at DHS under the Obama-Biden administration as Chief of Staff for the National Protections and Programs Directorate, which preceded the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at DHS.
