Biden taps Susan Rice to lead White House Domestic Policy Council

(CNN) - President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Susan Rice, the former national security adviser during the Obama administration, to lead the White House Domestic Policy Council, his transition team announced Thursday.

Politico was the first to report the decision. The position does not require Senate confirmation.

Rice, 55, was thought to be a contender to be Biden's vice president or secretary of state. First Obama's UN ambassador and then later his national security adviser, Rice has a long and close relationship with Biden and has deep foreign policy experience.

But her tenure was rocky at times and she carries political baggage that would have made a Senate confirmed role -- and the televised hearings that confirmation entails -- a challenge. Republicans would likely use the opportunity to seize on the aftermath of the 2012 deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, a tragedy that Republicans weaponized against her.

The Stanford University-educated former Rhodes scholar has often been described as brilliant, but has also faced criticism for being abrasive and for running a National Security Council that didn't cooperate well with other agencies.

This story is breaking and will be updated.