Robert Story Karem is an American policy advisor and government official who served as
in the
Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
.
Early life and education
Karem is a native of
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
, and graduated from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 2000.
Career
Karem was a foreign policy
legislative assistant
A legislative assistant (LA), legislative analyst, legislative research assistant, or legislative associate, is a person who works for a legislator as a legislative staffer in a semi-political partisan capacity, in a non-partisan capacity at a th ...
for U.S. Senator
Mitch McConnell
Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...
.
He was also an advisor to former Vice President
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...
, specifically with respect to
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
affairs. Karem was a member of Cheney's national security staff from February 2005 to January 2009 and was a researcher for Cheney's memoir.
Karem later worked as an advisor to then-
House Majority Leader
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...
Eric Cantor
Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Mino ...
.
In August 2014, Karem left Cantor's office to serve as policy advisor for U.S. House Majority Leader
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...
.
Karem served as a member of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
's
2016 transition team as an adviser to
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
Director
Mike Pompeo
Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...
during Pompeo's confirmation process.
On April 25, 2017, President Trump nominated Karem to become
in the Department of Defense.
Derek Chollet
Derek Chollet is an American foreign policy advisor and author who is currently a Managing Director and Head of the JPMorgan Chase Center for Geopolitics. He is also a Carnegie Distinguished Fellow at Columbia University's Institute of Global P ...
, who served as
in the Obama administration, praised Trump's decision in choosing Karem, stating that "
t often
oI say this, but terrific news from Trump Admin: Robert Karem nomn'd for Asst SecDef ISA . . . He’s smart, savvy, & skilled. Great pick!"
On May 18, 2017, Karem's confirmation hearing took place with the
Senate Committee on Armed Services.
He was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on May 25, 2017.
Karem stepped down as Assistant Secretary in October 2018, along with additional Pentagon officials,
Thomas Goffus and Alan Patterson. He was succeeded by
Kathryn L. Wheelbarger in an acting capacity.
References
External links
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karem, Robert Story
Columbia College (New York) alumni
1977 births
Living people
First Trump administration personnel
United States assistant secretaries of defense
People from Lexington, Kentucky
United States Under Secretaries of Defense for Policy