• Heather Nauert, the spokeswoman for the State Department and President Donald Trump’s pick as US Ambassador to the United Nations, announced Saturday she was withdrawing from consideration.
• She said the last two months had been “gruelling” for her family.

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State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced Saturday she was withdrawing from consideration as US ambassador to the United Nations, saying the last two months have been “gruelling” for her family.

Had Nauert been confirmed, she would have replaced former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who resigned from the position last October.

President Donald Trump said in December 2018 he would nominate Nauert to the position. Nauert is a former Fox News host and joined the State Department in April 2017, initially serving under then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

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

Nauert’s proposed nomination had garnered criticism over her lack of credentials – Nauert lacked foreign policy experience.

But her nomination was jeopardized after her background check revealed that she had employed a nanny who resided in the US legally, but was not authorised to work, Bloomberg News reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

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