President Trump is expected to nominate Fox News contributor Morgan Ortagus to be the spokeswoman for the State Department.
Ortagus, a counterterrorism expert with extensive foreign policy experience, is expected to replace Heather Nauert in the role, according to reports.
The 36-year-old is a U.S. Naval Reserve officer and previously worked in public affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development. From 2008 to 2010 she served as an intelligence analyst for the Treasury’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, according to the biography on her consulting firm’s website.
She will replace Nauert, who has served as the State Department’s spokeswoman since 2017. Trump had picked Nauert to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but she withdrew consideration after reports surfaced that she had employed an immigrant nanny that was in the U.S. legally, but not authorized to work.
State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Palladino has been filling in for Nauert during briefings since she announced her withdrawal from consideration for the ambassador role.
It is not clear when the White House plans to announce the pick.
The Washington Examiner reached out to both the White House and State Department for comment but did not receive an immediate response. Fox News confirmed Ortagus is no longer a contributor.
