Obama Administration
Following Obama's inauguration in January 2009, he was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff for the National Security Council, a position which had not existed in the Bush administration, but had existed in previous administrations. During his time as Chief of Staff, Lippert oversaw the merger of the staffs of the Homeland Security Council, which had been created in October 2009 by President Bush, and the National Security Council, into a single National Security Staff. Unlike his recent predecessors, then National Security Advisor and retired Marine Corps General, Jim Jones, delegated much of the day-to-day responsibilities for the National Security Council to Lippert and his staff.
In October 2009, Lippert resigned from the National Security Council to return to active duty in the Navy. There was speculation surrounding Lippert's resignation that he was pushed to leave due to significant disagreements with General Jones, especially with respect to the troop surge. Jones accused Lippert of leaking information about him to Bob Woodward for Obama's Wars. Lippert was succeeded by Denis McDonough, who served as National Security Council Chief of Staff until October 2010, when he became Deputy National Security Advisor. Lippert had originally recruited McDonough to serve as then Senator Obama's foreign policy advisor during his deployment to Iraq. McDonough was in turn replaced in January 2011 by Brooke Anderson, then deputy to Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.
Lippert spent two years serving as an intelligence officer with the Navy SEALs and the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, better known by its former name, SEAL Team Six, including a deployments to Afghanistan and undisclosed locations in Africa. He continued to be on the White House payroll while on active duty, which is permitted by federal law, but caused some controversy.
After completing his active duty with the Navy, Lippert was nominated by President Obama in October 2011 to succeed General Wallace Gregson as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs. While Lippert's nomination was held up for several months due to holds placed on it by Senators John McCain and John Cornyn Lippert's relationship with former National Security Advisor Jim Jones, and over F-16 sales to Taiwan, respectively, he was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote on April 2012.
When Kurt Campbell resigned as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in February 2013, Lippert was rumoured as a possible replacement for Campbell.
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