Trump pulls Stefanik’s UN nomination to protect GOP House majority
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President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he was withdrawing Elise Stefanik's nomination to be the US Ambassador to the UN, citing the need to maintain every Republican seat in Congress.
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Elise Stefanik testifies during a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on her pending confirmation as the United Nations Ambassador on Capitol Hill on January 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was withdrawing House Representative Elise Stefanik's candidacy to be the US ambassador to the United Nations, a remarkable flip for his cabinet candidate, whose confirmation had been blocked due to worries over Republicans' narrow House margins.
In a Truth Social post, Trump revealed that he was withdrawing the New York Republican's candidacy, noting that it was "essential that we maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress."
Trump said Stefanik was a "vital part" of the efforts to accomplish a mission and, as one of his biggest allies, asked her to remain in Congress.
He had tapped Stefanik to represent the US at the international body shortly after winning re-election in November. She was seen as among the least controversial cabinet picks, and her nomination advanced out of committee in late January, but House Republicans’ razor-thin majority kept her ultimate confirmation in a state of purgatory for the last several months.
In recent weeks, it had seemed as if Stefanik’s nomination would advance to the Senate floor, given two US House special elections in Florida in districts that Trump easily won in 2024.
Filling those vacant GOP seats would have allowed Stefanik to eventually leave the House while also giving Republicans, who currently possess 218 seats, a little more leeway in enacting legislation in an increasingly split Congress. Democrats control 213 seats.
However, Democrats' upset in a Tuesday special election for a Pennsylvania state Senate seat amid Republican-leaning suburbs and farming regions must have given the GOP pause.
Stefanik is the fourth Trump administration nominee that was not confirmed.
Previously, former US House Representative Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for Attorney General, Chad Chronister was removed from consideration for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and former Florida Representative Dr. David Weldon was removed from consideration to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Stefanik has remained in limbo for months, unable to carry out her formal obligations as a member of the 119th Congress or to take part in UN proceedings. The opening for a permanent US ambassador occurred at a critical time for the international organization, as global leaders were debating the two major wars between Russia and Ukraine and "Israel's" war on Gaza.
In late February, the US mission, under Trump, broke with its European partners by refusing to criticize Russia for the war in Ukraine in votes on three United Nations resolutions aimed at ending the three-year war.
Dorothy Shea, the deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, has been the face of America's mission in New York during the changeover.
