Susan Rice to replace Tom Donilon as US national security adviser Susan Rice will replace Tom Donilon, a key foreign policy adviser to President Barack Obama since he first took office. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, is resigning and will be replaced by the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, marking a significant shakeup to the White House foreign policy team. A White House official confirmed the personnel changes on Wednesday morning before an announcement by the president later. Donilon has been a key foreign policy adviser to Obama since he first took office. The 58-year-old had been expected to step down this year, with Rice seen as the candidate to replace him. Rice, a close Obama confidante, came under withering criticism from Republicans as part of the investigations into the deadly attack on a US compound in Benghazi, Libya. Relying on talking points from the intelligence community, Rice said in television interviews that the attacks were probably spontaneous, which later proved to be incorrect. Obama considered nominating Rice as his second-term secretary of state but she withdrew amid the Republican criticism, saying she did not want her confirmation fight to be a distraction for the White House. Her post as national security adviser does not require Senate confirmation. The White House official said Donilon was expected to stay on the job until early July, after Obama returns from two overseas trips and a summit this week with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. The official insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the personnel changes before they were publicly announced.