John Kirby

John F. Kirby (born June 3, 1963) is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who served in multiple senior government communications roles. In the Obama administration, he was Pentagon press secretary (2013–2015) and State Department spokesperson and assistant secretary (2015–2017). He worked as a CNN military and foreign policy analyst from 2017 to 2021. In the Biden administration, he was Pentagon press secretary (2021–2022) and White House National Security Communications Advisor (2022–2025). As of November 2025, he is director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.