National Security Adviser Jim Jones to Leave White House

President Obama’s National Security Adviser Jim Jones will resign from the White House in two weeks, a senior administration official said. Obama will announce that Jones, a retired Marine general, will be replaced by Deputy National Security Adviser Tom Donilon in a Rose Garden statement this afternoon.Jones’s departure is just the latest personnel move for a West Wing increasingly turning over before the midterm election.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel departed today to run for mayor of Chicago. Larry Summers, Obama’s chief economic adviser, is leaving after the election and two other members of Obama’s team resigned over the summer.

Donilon, who had been seen as a possible successor to Emanuel, is not a surprising choice to replace Jones, who reportedly viewed Donilon as his replacement from the beginning of the administration.

According to “Obama’s Wars” by Bob Woodward, Jones gave Donilon three pieces of advice during a performance review.

Jones said Donilon needed to travel to Iraq and Afghanistan, something he had not done before. He also needed to learn to tone down his declarative opinions of military leaders he had never met and develop a feel for the personal lives of NSC staffers.

Donilon has since visited Afghanistan, accompanying Obama there in March for a brief stop.

Not everyone in the administration agreed with Jones, according to Woodward.

In the same book, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said promoting Donilon would be a “disaster.”

{The Hill/Matzav.com}