In another senior staff shake-up inside his often turbulent administration, U. S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he has picked the two people he wants to be the next U. S. attorney general and the next U. S. ambassador to the United Nations.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In another senior staff shake-up inside his often turbulent administration, U. S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he has picked the two people he wants to be the next U. S. attorney general and the next U. S. ambassador to the United Nations.
He said he will nominate William Barr, who was attorney general under former President George H. W. Bush in the 1990s, to fill that top job again at the U. S. Justice Department.
Barr would replace Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who has been in that position since Trump forced out Jeff Sessions as attorney general a month ago.
Trump said he will put forward State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert, a former Fox News Channel host, would replace Nikki Haley, who said in October she would resign at the end of this year.
Both are likely to face tough questions at their Senate confirmation hearings. Democrats called Nauert unqualified and said they were concerned about Barr’s independence.
Republicans said they were pleased with both nominees.
Trump also said he would make a personnel announcement concerning the Pentagon on Saturday, telling reporters outside the White House, “It will have to do with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the succession.”
Trump was expected to name the Army’s top general, Mark Milley, as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the country’s top military position, U. S. officials told Reuters.
Separately, two sources told Reuters that John Kelly is expected to resign in coming days as White House chief of staff after months of speculation.
