Heather Nauert withdraws her name from consideration for UN ambassador job

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert withdrew her name from consideration for the nomination of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Saturday.

The State Department made the announcement in a release.

{mosads}”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 wrote Saturday. “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.”

It wasn’t clear from the release whether Nauert would continue on serving as the State Department’s spokeswoman.

“Heather Nauert has performed her duties as a senior member of my team with unequalled excellence,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added in the press release.

A State Department spokesperson said the department had nothing more to add about future personnel changes, and referred back to the the statement released by the agency.

“Her personal decision today to withdraw her name from consideration to become the nominee for United States Ambassador to the United Nations is a decision for which I have great respect,” Pompeo added. “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.”

Sources familiar with Nauert’s bid to represent the U.S. at the United Nations told The New York Times that her withdrawal centered around her employment of a nanny who was in the country legally but was working without proper authorization for employment in the U.S.

Nauert joined the Trump administration in 2017 following a career as a journalist at Fox News and ABC News. She joined the State Department under Pompeo’s predecessor, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

She was nominated to the post of U.N. ambassador in December following the surprise resignation of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley in October.

“It’s been eight years of intense time and I’m a big believer in term limits,” Haley said at the time. “You have to be selfless enough to know when you step aside and allow someone else to do the job.”

The move comes as Nauert, who moved from Fox News to the State Department in two years, has continued to face questions about her qualifications for the position following Trump’s decision to nominate the spokeswoman for the role last year.

This article was updated at 9:15 p.m.