Katie Zacharia, a conservative commentator who briefly worked at the Department of Homeland Security, has been chosen as the next White House press secretary, President Donald Trump announced Friday afternoon.

Zacharia will succeed Karoline Leavitt, who left the position in August. Zacharia is currently a communications adviser to Trump Media and Technology Group, which runs the president’s social media site, Truth Social. She previously had a brief stint working as a spokesperson for then-Secretary Kristi Noem at the Department of Homeland Security and has been a frequent guest on conservative media, including Fox News and Newsmax.

In his announcement, Trump said that Zacharia had also worked for his election campaigns, assisting in his efforts to win key swing states.

“She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning,” Trump gushed on Truth Social, where Zacharia has been employed since June, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Zacharia is stepping into the role of press secretary at a politically sensitive time for the White House, as the Trump administration faces a critical midterm season in which increasing numbers of Republican candidates are distancing themselves from the president. She is also inheriting the White House briefing room podium during a period of particularly tense relations with the press, as the president’s efforts to ban three news organizations from White House grounds are challenged in court.

Leavitt, who left the administration before that ban was imposed, frequently voiced disdain for mainstream media, but had a penchant for delivering quick and sharp-tongued answers to reporters’ questions. Trump regularly praised her and counted her among his trusted advisers.

It was not clear whether Zacharia, who is several years older than Leavitt, would seek to emulate her tactics at the podium or seek to establish her own style. She did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Zacharia, an attorney who earned her undergraduate and law degrees at Pepperdine University, lives in California and has worked regularly for conservative causes. Before her stint in the Trump administration, she served as general counsel for Fix California, a nonprofit founded by Ric Grenell, a Trump ally, to advance a conservative agenda in the state, and White Rose Resistance, an anti-abortion advocacy group, according to her online resume.

More than a decade ago, she also spent a couple of years working in Beijing, and claims to have basic proficiency in Chinese.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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