Trump asks key Obama counterterrorism officials to stay on

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team Thursday announced that a handful of top Obama administration counterterrorism officials will remain in their posts after the inauguration.

The decision comes amid rising concerns that personnel gaps in key national security agencies could leave the incoming administration ill-prepared to deal with a crisis.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said among those staying on after Friday will be Nick Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center; Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIL; Tom Shannon, undersecretary of state for political affairs; and Adam Szubin, the Treasury Department’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

At least one other security official may be in line to stay indefinitely: Dab Kern, acting director of the White House Military Office. “The president intends to make Dab Kern permanent,” Spicer said.

Trump’s transition team previously announced that Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work will also remain on for a period of time.