Trump taps House Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.N. ambassador

Jeongyoon Han

November 11, 2024 / 7:03 am

caption: House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik speaks at the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference in Washington Hilton on June 21, 2024.

President-elect Trump has offered the role of U.N. ambassador to House Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

"I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter," Trump said in a statement.

Stefanik, who is the highest ranking woman Republican in the House, has been a key ally of Trump's over the years and was reported to have been a contender as his running mate during the presidential election.

The nomination requires Senate confirmation, which Stefanik is expected to easily pick up. Republicans are now in control of the Senate after the election. Under New York state law, Gov. Kathy Hochul must call a special election within 10 days of a vacancy. Stefanik's seat is seen as a safe Republican one.

The news was first reported by CNN over the weekend.

When Stefanik was elected to represent New York's 21st district in 2014, she was the youngest woman elected to Congress in American history at the time. Before that, Stefanik started off in politics as a moderate conservative, working for George W. Bush and Mitt Romney; Paul Ryan mentored her at one point in her career.

That brand of politics also was shown in her criticism of Trump when the leaked Access Hollywood tape came out in 2016, saying he had made "inappropriate, offensive comments."

But Stefanik has rapidly ascended into Trump's circle over the past few years. She was one of Trump's strongest defenders during the 2019 impeachment hearings against him. She questioned the results of the 2020 election, propping up election lies and supporting a lawsuit that attempted to invalidate President Biden's victory.

Two years later, Stefanik became chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021 after Liz Cheney was ousted from that post for her rebuke of Trumpian politics. Stefanik has since been a strong defender of Israel over the war in Gaza and was at the forefront of congressional hearings over antisemitism on college campuses last winter, during which she grilled the presidents of University of Pennsylvania and Harvard.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was Trump's strongest adversary during the 2024 Republican primary, served as one of Trump's U.N. ambassadors in his first administration. But in a post on Truth Social, Trump confirmed that Haley would not be joining his administration.