By Kevin Diaz, Washington Bureau

Photo: Houston Chronicle File Photo

For Kay Bailey Hutchison, coming out of political retirement after three terms in the Senate will put her in a whole new partisan sphere than the one she left when she decided not to run in 2012.

For Kay Bailey Hutchison, coming out of political retirement after three terms in the Senate will put her in a whole new partisan sphere than the one she left when she decided not to run in 2012.

Hutchisons NATO appointment puts her in a whole new world

WASHINGTON Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchisons selection as President Donald Trumps ambassador to NATO continues a run of high-profile Texans in the Trump administration, and one that may soften the edges of the presidents prickly relations with the outside world.

She will be joining former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, now Trumps energy secretary, and former Exxon Mobil chief Rex Tillerson, now Trumps secretary of state. At the White House, she also will recognize former Texas Republican Party Chairman Steve Munisteri, now deputy director of the office of public liaison in the Trump administration.

For Hutchison, 73, coming out of political retirement after three terms in the Senate will put her in a whole new partisan sphere than the one she left when she decided not to run in 2012.

Political observers will be watching to see how Hutchison, the most senior female Republican senator by the end of her tenure, will navigate Trumps well-known insistence on absolute loyalty, the more so since his messy twitter attack Thursday on MSNBC morning show host Mika Brzezinski.

In an MSNBC interview in April last year, Hutchison said Trump was wrong to attack Hillary Clinton on gender and needed to stay more focused on issues and experience.

The context that hes using, personal attacks on his opponents, both Republicans as well as Democrats, is just the wrong attack right now, Hutchison said. It is time for him to start talking substance, and I thought his foreign policy speech was a step in the right direction. And I think we dont need any more of these personal, little slights.

Hutchison, originally a backer of Jeb Bush for president in 2016, also said she wasnt sure at the time if she could support Trump if he won the GOP nomination.

As ambassador to NATO, Hutchison will become the face of Trumps uneasy relationship with the 28-nation military alliance, which he once called obsolete.

The president has pressed European members of the alliance to spend more money on defense, saying the U.S. was being shortchanged. It presumably will be up to Hutchison now to drive a harder bargain.

As a senator, Hutchison served on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Defense and Military Construction appropriations subcommittees.

As she faces the Senate confirmation process, she has received the thumbs-up of both current Texas senators. With a proven track record of getting results, she has always done what she thought was in the best interest of Texas and our country, said Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.

Sen. Ted Cruz also weighed in on Friday, saying her past Senate committee posts give her an incredible insight into the issues facing Europe, her allies and the importance of NATO to serve in opposition to Russian aggression.

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Hutchison's NATO appointment puts her in a whole new world - mySanAntonio.com