President Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, was confirmed by the Senate on Friday.
Waltz, who was Trump’s national security adviser, was confirmed 47-43 to be the U.S. representative to the U.N. and the U.N. Security Council. Three Democrats, Sens. John Fetterman (PA), Mark Kelly (AZ), and Jeanne Shaheen (NH) voted to confirm Waltz, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the sole GOP no.
The Senate still has to confirm Waltz as the U.S. representative to the General Assembly, which is a separate vote the upper chamber will consider when it returns from recess on Sept. 29, the same day it is set to revote on the GOP proposal to fund the government to avert a shutdown on Oct. 1.
It’s unclear whether Waltz’s ability to function as Trump’s U.N. ambassador will be affected in the meantime; however, it is standard procedure for the nominations to be considered separately.
Waltz’s confirmation came ahead of Trump’s attendance at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City next week, where he is set to speak. Trump adviser Jason Miller had said it would be a “terrible look” if the Senate did not confirm Waltz before Trump addressed the assembly.
Trump nominated the now-U.N. ambassador in May following his removal as national security adviser after inadvertently adding a journalist from the Atlantic to a Signal group chat in which sensitive attack plans were discussed.
Waltz’s nomination, among dozens of other lower-level nominees, was slow-walked by Democrats, who refused to offer their support for Trump’s picks, forcing the upper chamber to alter its rules to bypass their opposition. On Thursday, the Senate approved its first batch of nominees using its new rules, which allow several nominations to be considered at once along party lines.
SENATE REJECTS DUAL DEMOCRAT AND GOP FUNDING BILLS AHEAD OF SHUTDOWN DEADLINE
But the path to Waltz’s confirmation has been difficult. Democrats forced Waltz’s nomination, which was advanced out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July, to be sent back to the committee for not being “properly reported” to the chamber due to the use of proxy or voice votes.
He was voted out of the committee for a second time on Wednesday, 11-10, after ranking member Shaheen voted “yes” and Paul voted “no.”
