President Donald Trump has pulled the nomination of New York Rep Elise Stefanik to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations.
Announcing his decision in a post on social media, Trump said it was essential that Stefanik retain her seat in the House of Representatives to protect Republicans’ razor-thin majority.
“I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The people love Elise and, with her, we have nothing to worry about come Election Day. There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations.”
Calling her one of his biggest allies, the president said Stefanik would rejoin the House leadership team.
The White House has not announced who the president might nominate to serve as ambassador to the UN next.
Stefanik, a onetime Trump critic turned MAGA darling, was the president’s first cabinet pick. She was expected to sail through Senate confirmation, but the vote on her nomination was delayed because her support was needed in the House to pass Republican-backed legislation.
Her confirmation was supposed to move to a vote after a pair of special election races in Florida on 1 April. Former Rep Mike Waltz – the current national security advisor – is one of the congressmen to leave the two Republican-safe seats empty.
But discussions were held at the White House on Thursday about whether Stefanik should remain in Congress, given the president’s agenda and the narrow 218-213 Republican majority in the House.
Stefanik will continue to represent her solidly Republican upstate New York district, where she recently held a farewell tour in preparation for the UN role. She also attended a White House cabinet meeting last month.
During her confirmation hearing, Stefanik said she would make Trump’s agenda her own, particularly his “peace through strength” approach to US foreign policy.
As a member of Congress, she has been one of the international body’s toughest critics and a staunch defender of Israel.
She has previously called for the US to cut funding to the UN, describing it as a “cesspool of anti-Semitism” and a “corrupt, defunct and paralyzed institution”.
By BBC News
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