Top Kelly aide expected to become new White House deputy chief of staff: report

Incoming White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s top aide is expected to join him at the White House as a deputy chief of staff, CNN reported Saturday.

Kirstjen Nielsen has been serving as Kelly’s chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump appointed Kelly, who has served the Homeland Security secretary since January, as his new White House chief of staff on Friday. 

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Trump made the announcement via Twitter shortly after returning to Washington from a speech in Long Island, N.Y. The president’s now-former chief of staff Reince Priebus reportedly tendered his resignation on Thursday, but accompanied Trump to New York on Friday.

The deputy chief of staff job expected to be filled by Nielsen was most recently held by Katie Walsh, who left the post in March to work for the outside group America First Policies. 

Like Priebus, Walsh previously worked for the Republican National Committee. Two other RNC alums, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Michael Short, a press aide, left their posts at the White House over the past week.

Nielsen most recently worked as the president of Sunesis Consulting and served as a senior fellow and member of the Resilience Task Force at the George Washington University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security.

She worked in the White House under former President George W. Bush, serving as a special assistant to the president for prevention, preparedness, and response on the White House Homeland Security Council.