Senate Republicans are keeping Rep. Elise Stefanik’s United Nations ambassador nomination in limbo amid concerns from the White House that her confirmation would risk President Donald Trump’s agenda in the House.
The New York Republican cleared the Foreign Relations Committee late last month and is expected to be easily confirmed in the Senate, where the GOP has a 53-seat majority, and some Democrats have also expressed support.
Political Implications of the Delay
But even as the Senate churns briskly through Trump’s Cabinet picks, Stefanik’s nomination hasn’t yet been scheduled for floor action. Republican leaders said they are waiting for the OK from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue — where there are worries that her confirmation, and subsequent resignation from the House, would further tighten Speaker Mike Johnson’s margin.
“The concern is … obviously the situation in the House and how narrow the majority is,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a brief interview Thursday. “I think they’re trying to figure out how to coordinate and time it all.”
Asked about Stefanik recently, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican, added that Republicans are ready to go but “that would take the numbers in the House down one. So … we’ll time it appropriately.”
House Majority Concerns
The Senate-White House discussions underscore the fragility of Johnson’s majority. House Republicans won 220 seats in the November election but they are currently at 218 votes to Democrats’ 215 due to former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s resignation last year and former Rep. Mike Waltz’s appointment as national security adviser.
That essentially means Johnson can afford to lose only one Republican vote right now on party-line measures. Losing Stefanik would reduce that margin for error to zero, with Johnson hoping to move later this month on a controversial budget blueprint unlocking the GOP’s sweeping tax, energy, defense, and border bill.
Future Political Landscape
Neither Thune nor Barrasso pinpointed when they expected to get the green light to confirm Stefanik. A spokesperson for Stefanik declined to comment.
The two vacant seats, both in Florida, are slated to be filled in special general elections on April 1. Beyond the budget legislation, Johnson is also grappling with a mid-March government funding deadline.
Should Republicans wait until the April 1 election date to move on Stefanik’s nomination, it would leave the U.S. without a Senate-confirmed ambassador in New York for more than six weeks.
Global Affairs Impact
A former U.S. official familiar with the American mission to the United Nations said that “in normal times” not having a confirmed ambassador in place would be detrimental to U.S. foreign policy interests. The U.N. ambassador traditionally fills a key role delineating where the U.S. stands on major issues and going toe-to-toe with global adversaries such as China and Russia.
But Trump is a singular voice on foreign policy matters, the former official explained, and he is already withdrawing the U.S. from U.N. bodies in line with his vision for the multinational forum.
“Trump is the only one who speaks on behalf of the administration on national security and foreign policy issues,” said the ex-official, who was granted anonymity to comment on the sensitive issue. “He has disdain for the U.N., and there’s no need for a high-profile confirmed U.S. ambassador at the U.N. to carry out his agenda there. He’s doing that without her in place already.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The field to replace Stefanik in the House, meanwhile, has been frozen while local Republican leaders await the confirmation vote.
New York Republicans want Stefanik’s nomination to move forward so that her vacancy triggers a special election in the rural upstate district she has represented for a decade. Republican consultant Dave Catalfamo said GOP lawmakers should do everything they can to hasten a vote.
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