Washington(CNN) National security adviser John Bolton has added two loyalists to the National Security Council, according to a source familiar with the hires.
Sarah Tinsley and Garrett Marquis have both joined the Trump administration as senior directors for strategic communications at the National Security Council, the source told CNN. Tinsley has been named as deputy assistant to the President and is filling a role left vacant by Michael Anton, who stepped down earlier this year after Bolton's predecessor, H.R. McMaster, was fired. Marquis is a special assistant to the President.
Tinsley started last week and Marquis begins Tuesday.
Both have been associated with Bolton for years. Before joining the administration, Tinsley worked at the John Bolton political action committee and the Bolton-run nonprofit, the Foundation for American Security and Freedom. Marquis formerly worked as a managing partner at the public affairs firm Prism Group, but was known in Washington as Bolton's spokesman. He frequently worked with and fielded press inquiries from reporters after President Donald Trump announced in March he had selected Bolton to replace McMaster.
Bolton, a former ambassador, joined the administration as Trump's third national security adviser during a critical period of negotiations over the Iran deal and a potential sit-down between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Bolton had only been in his role in an official capacity for a few days when he quickly began reshaping his team. Several National Security Council staff members either left or were pushed out, including McMaster's deputy Nadia Schadlow, the deputy national security adviser Ricky Waddell, homeland security adviser Tom Bossert and acting deputy homeland security adviser Rob Joyce.
Bolton has quickly become a favorite of Trump's in the West Wing, who has made it clear that Bolton reports directly to him, not chief of staff John Kelly. Before joining the administration, he met regularly with the President in the Oval Office to discuss foreign policy.