Ambassador to Ukraine who resigned under Trump administration may run for Congress in Michigan

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink is considering a run for Congress in her home state of Michigan, CBS News has learned.

Brink, who served for 28 years as a diplomat, is mulling a bid in Michigan’s 7th congressional district, which is currently represented by Republican Tom Barrett. The Lansing-area district is rated by the Cook Political Report as a tossup, and was represented by Democrat Elissa Slotkin until earlier this year, when she moved to the Senate. 

In a statement first given to the Detroit News, Brink said, “I’ve dedicated my life to public service — working under five Presidents, both Democratic and Republican, and am exploring my options and the best way to continue to serve my country and my great home state of Michigan.”

Brink resigned her post as envoy to Ukraine in April. In an op-ed last week in the Detroit Free Press, she said policy differences with the Trump administration prompted her to step down. President Trump has pressed Ukraine and Russia to strike a peace deal, sometimes lashing out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the process.

On CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday, she told moderator Margaret Brennan, “I resigned from Ukraine and also from the Foreign Service, because the policy since the beginning of the administration was to put pressure on the victim Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia. I fully agree that the war needs to end, but I believe that peace at any price is not peace at all. It’s appeasement and as we know from history, appeasement only leads to more war.

A career diplomat, Brink was confirmed by the Senate as ambassador to Kyiv shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, and stayed on during the early months of the Trump administration.

In April, CBS reported that Brink intended to resign her post as ambassador due to an unusual mix of personal and policy concerns, including USAID layoffs. Brink had been serving in a war zone far from her family since Kyiv is designated as an unaccompanied post, where officers serve without bringing their families with them.