Heather Nauert Withdraws as Trump's Nominee for UN Ambassador

(Bloomberg) -- State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert is withdrawing from consideration as President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations, according to a statement.

Nauert’s nomination began to falter after the White House was alerted to a problem in her background: She had in the past employed an immigrant nanny who was in the U.S. legally but wasn’t authorized to work, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The State Department statement with remarks from Nauert on Saturday night didn’t acknowledge the issue with her nanny or any other specific problem with her nomination.

Nauert’s nanny issue became politically untenable -- and would have likely come out in her confirmation hearing -- given that halting illegal migration was a centerpiece of Trump’s campaign and has animated his fight to build a wall on the border with Mexico. A day before Nauert withdrew, Trump declared a national emergency to secure more money for the proposed wall, after Congress approved only about $1.4 billion in a spending deal.

“I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for the trust they placed in me for considering me for the position of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,” Nauert said in the statement. “However, the past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw my name from consideration.”

Nauert was expected to face a thorny confirmation hearing given her lack of diplomatic or government experience and the likelihood that the former Fox News anchor would be asked to answer for the Trump administration’s scorn for international bodies, including the UN. In a speech in Brussels in December, Pompeo made his doubts about the organization clear, asking, “Does it continue to serve its mission faithfully?”

Potential Candidates

Trump began discussing potential new candidates for the UN post Saturday evening with his advisers, according to one person familiar with the matter. Other potential nominees had earlier included former White House aide Dina Powell, Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft, former U.S. Senate candidate John James of Michigan and Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell.

Trump had said in early December that he planned to nominate Nauert, 49, to replace Nikki Haley as UN ambassador. Suspicion later mounted that her nomination was running into trouble because the White House never formally submitted her name for Senate confirmation, even after Haley resigned at year end.

State Department officials insisted there was nothing unusual in that delay, arguing that Attorney General William Barr’s nomination went more smoothly because he had already been confirmed once, in 1991. They also blamed the 35-day partial government shutdown and the complexity of the vetting process.

While Nauert struggled under former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who kept her blocked from his inner circle, she built a rapport with current Secretary Michael Pompeo, who came to trust her as a reliable voice and advocate for Trump’s agenda.

The State Department declined to say whether Nauert would return to her job as the agency’s spokesperson, but a comment from Pompeo included in the statement announcing her withdrawal suggested she wouldn’t.

“Heather Nauert has performed her duties as a senior member of my team with unequaled excellence,” he said. “I wish Heather nothing but the best in all of her future endeavors and know that she will continue to be a great representative of this nation in whatever role she finds herself.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Nick Wadhams in Washington at nwadhams@bloomberg.net;Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, ;Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert

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