What Job Will Kellyanne Conway Have Next?

Kellyanne Conway, a former senior counselor to President Donald Trump's administration, is among the two dozen or so in the president’s circle to get appointed to government positions Tuesday.

The White House announced appointments for 26 people, including Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager in 2016 and later a counselor until she resigned in August to spend more time with her family.

Conway was appointed to serve as a member of the Board of Visitors to the United States Air Force Academy. According to its charter, the board advises the Pentagon and U.S. lawmakers on “the morale, discipline, and social climate, the curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and other matters relating to the Academy that the Board decides to consider.”

The board is made up of 15 members, six of which are appointed by the president. Their term is three years, meaning President-elect Joe Biden could replace Conway if he chooses to do so. The need for the board is continuous, but it is subject to renewal every two years.

Conway, 53, is married to George Conway, a noted critic of Trump. A profile in New York magazine revealed that before serving in the White House, she got her start in polling, working as a research assistant at a Republican polling firm while earning a law degree at George Washington University.

She is a long-time political operative for the Republican Party, working as an advisor to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich during his failed bid for president in 2012. Gingrich told The Atlantic in 2017 that Conway has a reputation for “taking on the media,” a skillset put on display during her tenure with the Trump administration.

Last year, the Office of Special Counsel called for her removal from federal office for violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from political activity while on the job. In June 2019, the OSC described her as a repeat offender, particularly for advocating for Republicans in a 2017 special Senate election in Alabama.

“If you’re trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, it’s not going to work,” the OSC quoted her as saying. Prosecution under the Hatch Act is at the discretion of the president.

Conway resigned in August, saying she wanted to focus more on family issues during the pandemic, CNN reported at the time. Her husband also left The Lincoln Project, a group of former Republican leaders critical of the president, for family reasons after their eldest daughter, Claudia, began airing issues at home on social media.

Kellyanne was among the handful of people in the president’s inner circle who contracted COVID-19 after a nomination ceremony for now Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in October.

Among the other more high-profile people appointed to government posts are Elaine Chao, the outgoing secretary of the Department of Transportation and wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican. She was appointed to the board of trustees at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.