Washington — The Senate confirmed Mike Waltz, President Trump’s former national security adviser, as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Friday after months of delays.
The vote, which was 47 to 43, comes days before world leaders and their representatives gather next week for high-level meetings in New York for the U.N. General Assembly.
The role of U.N. ambassador — the last member of Mr. Trump’s Cabinet to be confirmed — has been vacant for eight months, leaving the U.S. without a top representative on a major world stage as several international crises play out. Waltz takes the position as Mr. Trump’s frustrations increase with Russia over its refusal to end its war in Ukraine and as the U.S. seeks to manage tensions with China and Iran, while negotiating an end to the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
This summer, Democrats teased a bruising confirmation hearing for Waltz after he was embroiled in the controversy over a Signal chat in which top administration officials inadvertently disclosed sensitive details about a military strike in Yemen. But Waltz escaped the hearing mostly unscathed, with the scandal not coming up until more than an hour into questioning.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee originally advanced his nomination on July 24, with the help of the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. But Waltz was among numerous nominees who were sent back to the panel earlier this month over procedural objections from Democrats about how they were initially voted out of the committee.
The committee again advanced Waltz’s nomination on Wednesday with Shaheen voting in favor. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican on the committee to vote against his nomination.
Shaheen said earlier this year she believed Waltz would play a “moderating force” in the Trump administration. She also secured an agreement with the administration to release previously authorized spending of $75 million in lifesaving assistance.
“He committed to the important role of the U.N., to his belief in participating there, to the challenges, the need for reform — which I think most of us would agree, there are reforms that we would like to see at the U.N. — and the importance of competing with China,” Shaheen told reporters.
During his confirmation hearing, Waltz told senators that the U.N. needs “major” reform, but added that there’s “good and meaningful work to be done.”
“We should have one place in the world where everyone can talk, where China, Russia, Europe, the developing world, can come together and resolve conflicts,” he said. “But after 80 years, it’s drifted from its core mission of peacemaking.”
Waltz told Shaheen it was “absolutely critical” for the U.S. to be at the table to counter China’s growing influence.
Waltz committed to Republicans that he would combat what they called a “hotbed of antisemitism” in the global body.