WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House withdrew the nomination of Representative Elise Stefanik to be ambassador to the United Nations, a surprising turn after her confirmation stalled due to concerns about the Republicans’ slim margins in the House of Representatives.
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President Donald Trump confirmed the decision in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, stating that it was “essential that we keep EVERY Republican seat in Congress.”
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“We must be united to achieve our Mission, and Elise Stefanik has been a vital part of our efforts from the beginning. I have asked Elise, as one of my top Allies, to remain in Congress,” expressed the president, without mentioning who he would nominate to replace her.
Stefanik’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Trump had chosen Stefanik, a Republican from New York, to represent the United States at the international organization shortly after winning re-election in November.
She was considered one of the least controversial picks for the cabinet, and her nomination advanced in the committee in late January, but the slim Republican majority in the House kept her final confirmation in a state of limbo during the last few months.
In recent weeks, it seemed that Stefanik’s nomination would advance to the full Senate, given the two special elections for the House of Representatives in Florida in districts that Trump easily won in 2024.
Filling those vacant Republican seats would have allowed Stefanik to finally resign from the House and give Republicans, who currently have 218 seats, a little more leeway to pass legislation in an increasingly divided Congress. Democrats have 213 seats.
But the surprising victory of the Democrats in a special election on Tuesday for a seat in the Pennsylvania state Senate in suburbs and agricultural communities leaning towards the Republicans surely made the Republican Party doubt.
Stefanik is the fourth nominee from the Trump administration who has failed to pass the confirmation process. Previously, former representative Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for Secretary of Justice, Chad Chronister was removed for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and former Florida congressman David Weldon was removed from the running to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The former congresswoman had been in a state of limbo for months, unable to participate in her official duties as a member of the 119th Congress or take part in action at the UN. The vacancy of a permanent ambassador at the UN was happening at a critical time for the international organization, as world leaders had been discussing the two major wars between Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Hamas.
At the end of February, the United States mission, under Trump, broke away from its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in the votes on three UN resolutions seeking to end the war. Dorothy Shea, the deputy ambassador of the United States to the UN, has been the face of the United States mission in New York during the transition.