Only months into his fledgling presidency, President Donald Trump is still tapping people to fill some especially critical administration posts. One of those spots was filled this week by a prominent and longtime Texas republican.
Kay Bailey Hutchison, a former United States Senator who represented Texas for twenty years, was nominated to become the U.S. Ambassador for to NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Though a critical organization and position in any presidency, the skepticism and criticism of by the Trump administration towards NATO makes the role and appointment especially noteworthy.
Hutchison served three terms in the United States Senate, and has a career in politics that started in 1972 when she served three terms in the Texas State House of Representatives. In 2009, she ran against Rick Perry for the governorship in the Republican primary, positioning herself as a more moderate Republican alternative to Perry, a race which Perry would ultimately go onto win.
The nomination received a ringing endorsement from Hutchison’s senate successor, now Senator Ted Cruz, alongside many other prominent Texas politician figures.
Hutchison has been in talks to fill the position for months, and was said to be the preferred pick by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The nomination is expected to receive little to no opposition during confirmation in the United States Senate.