President Barack Obama was expected to reshuffle his foreign policy team on Wednesday by shifting Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice to the White House to become his national security advisor. Rice will replace Tom Donilon, who departs in July.

In the wake of Obama's re-election last year, John Kerry instead of Rice became the new US Secretary of State. Rice was tapped for the position but withdrew from consideration after Senate Republicans objected to her allegedly playing down an Islamist attack in Benghazi, Libya, last September.

Four Americans were killed, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Assuming Obama formally appoints Rice as security advisor, he will avoid a congressional fight because the White House post does not require Senate confirmation, unlike the job of secretary of state.

Rice has a reputation for being outspoken on human rights issues and in 2011 pushed for a more interventionist strategy in Libya under its then dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was subsequently killed during a rebel advance in October of that year.

The expected White House shakeup comes as Obama grapples with numerous foreign policy challenges, from Syria to China's rise on the world stage. That will be underscored by Obama's meeting later this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California.

The anticipated new US ambassador at the UN, Samantha Power, is a former White House adviser, human rights expert and Harvard university professor.

Power won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for her book "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide." It examined US foreign policy towards genocide in the 20th century.

A White official quoted by the news agency Associated Press said Donilon would stay on until early July, when Obama wraps up overseas trips to Europe and Africa.

Donilon has overseen a US foreign policy shift that has placed increasing emphasis on US relationships in the Asia-Pacific regions.    Add Comments>>