The list to replace outgoing White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders just got a little shorter after a leading candidate took herself out of the running.
Heather Nauert, who previously served a two-year stint as spokeswoman for the State Department, said she is no longer interested in serving as President Donald Trump’s chief communications director.
The 49-year-old’s withdrawal leaves a clear path to the challenging position for Stephanie Grisham, the current spokeswoman to First Lady Melania Trump.
Bowing out
President Trump reportedly considered Nauert, a former Fox & Friends co-host, among the top four contenders for the job before she decided against it. Apparently, the president wanted a woman to take on the difficult task of communicating his policies to an often-belligerent White House press pool, leaving Nauert and Grisham as the two favorites for the job.
However, Nauert only left her job at the State Department in April — a role that required her to spend the past two years away from her family in New York.
“She’s on to that next season of life and not looking to return to the administration, at this point anyway,” an individual close to Nauert told the Washington Examiner soon after Sanders announced her departure.
“She is back with her family,” the source added. “Her job at State required a significant amount of travel, and her family was up in New York. She laughed it off and dismissed it, and said, ‘I’m moving on to the next thing.'”
No horse in this race
Nauert also backed out of an opportunity to replace Nikki Haley as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations after news reports surfaced alleging that the former news anchor hired a nanny more than 10 years ago without the proper work authorization. An individual with ties to the State Department speculated that the same problem that kept Nauert from working at the U.N. would also preclude her from serving as a White House press secretary.
Although the Examiner’s source couldn’t confirm if this was true, they speculated that the allegations “probably played some role in her moving on.”
For her part, Nauert has refused to comment on the record regarding her decision to take her name out of consideration.
Despite giving up her administration responsibilities, Nauert continues to work on the Presidential Commission on White House Fellows. She is also a member of the Fulbright Scholarship Board.
Change of heart
Whomever Trump decides to pick as his new press secretary, he had better make the selection soon. Sanders, who has been with the administration since the beginning, plans to leave the White House in a few short weeks.
Besides Nauert and Grisham, the president was reportedly considering Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayegh and White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley for the job. However, Grisham has recently emerged as the heavy favorite, by all accounts, as she is beloved by the first family and supported by White House staff.
Of course, Trump is known to change his mind, often without warning, leaving reporters guessing all the way up until Sanders makes her final exit.
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