Kay Bailey Hutchison, Nancy Brinker Could Replace Nikki Haley
President Donald Trump is reportedly eyeing two former prominent Dallas residents to replace Nikki Haley as the new UN ambassador – Kay Bailey Hutchison and Nancy Brinker, the Dallas Morning News pointed out this week.
Brinker, the founder of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, had served as President George W. Bush’s ambassador to Hungary for two years and later as his White House chief of protocol, responsible for interacting with foreign dignitaries, the Morning News wrote.
The newspaper stated that Brinker lived in Dallas while married to restaurant magnate Norman Brinker. She later moved to Palm Beach, Fla., where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located, per the Morning News.
Hutchison is revered in Texas politics, serving as a U.S. senator there for two decades after being elected to the state legislature and serving as the state treasurer. She is currently serving as Trump’s ambassador to NATO.
The newspaper said that Hutchison accompanied Trump to an alliance summit in Brussels in July, suggesting a possible connection between her and the president.
A source told CNN that the White House thinks that Brinker could win quick confirmation because of her past ambassador experience.
Brinker ended her run as chief executive of the Komen foundation, named after her sister who died of cancer, after backlash over the organization’s politically-charged decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood in 2012.
The foundation, which saw a drop in donations after the Planned Parenthood decision was made, reversed it after Brinker stepped down, CNN stated.
According to Politico, aides have been pushing Trump to name another woman to replace Haley to help beef up his standing among women before the November midterm elections. Hutchison and Brinker’s standing may have been enhanced since Dina Powell, rumored to be one of Trump’s top picks for Haley’s job recently withdrew her name from consideration, per the website.
Attracting female voters may be a high priority for Republicans after the bruising Supreme Court fight for Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Trump’s court pick had his vote to the top bench delayed after allegations surfaced of sexual misbehavior dating back to high school days.
Kavanaugh was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last Saturday on a near party-line 50-48 vote, but not after loud protests from liberals and sexual assault survivor groups who charged that the claims made against the justice were not taken seriously enough.
Powell, who already served a stint in the Trump administration as deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy, cited a desire to stay close to her young children, two people close to Powell told Politico.
