Trump taps Rep. Elise Stefanik for UN ambassador
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Rep. Elise Stefanik arrives to speak during a campaign event with former US President Donald Trump, not pictured, at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday, Oct. 27. Photo: Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President-elect Trump has chosen Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to serve as his ambassador to the United Nations.
Why it matters: The fourth-ranking House Republican has been a staunch supporter of Trump, fiercely defending him during his 2019 impeachment hearings and more recent legal woes.
- Once an occasional Trump critic, her shift from moderate to MAGA came with fundraising clout.
- She's been on the shortlist for team Trump 2.0 for months, as she was widely considered to be a potential vice presidential pick for the soon-to-be president.
Driving the news: "I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations," Trump said in a statement. "Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter."
- Trump announced Saturday that Nikki Haley, his former UN ambassador ambassador who resigned from the post in 2018, would not be returning to his second administration.
Zoom in: Stefanik is fiercely pro-Israel, a conviction she made clear during her viral questioning of university officials over reports of antisemitism on college campuses.
- Her passionate inquiries stirred rare bipartisan backlash directed toward the university presidents, two of whom resigned from their posts.
- She has been critical of the United Nations during the Israel-Hamas war, at one point calling for a "a complete reassessment of U.S. funding of the United Nations" if Israel were expelled from the General Assembly amid concerns of human rights violations and alleged war crimes in Gaza.
What she's saying: "The work ahead is immense as we see antisemitism skyrocketing coupled with four years of catastrophically weak U.S. leadership that significantly weakened our national security and diminished our standing in the eyes of both allies and adversaries," Stefanik said in a statement.
Between the lines: Stefanik was voted to assume the position of GOP Conference Chair following the ouster of former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), now one of the most prominent never-Trump Republicans.
- Reps. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) are both running to replace Stefanik in House GOP leadership, Axios' Juliegrace Brufke reports.
- Stefanik also serves on the House Armed Services Committee and on the House Select Committee on Intelligence.
Zoom out: Trump has also selected co-campaign manager Susie Wiles as his chief of staff and Tom Homan as director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Go deeper: GOP investigations could launch Stefanik in 2024
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from Stefanik, details about her Israel support, United Nations criticism and House GOP battle.
