Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik will face senators’ questions on Tuesday as she defends her record and qualifications to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Stefanik, one of President Trump’s most reliable allies in Congress, goes before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations for her confirmation hearing less than 24 hours after Mr. Trump was sworn into office. Mr. Trump hopes his key Cabinet picks will sail through confirmation and take their posts once he’s president on Jan. 20. Stefanik is likely to be confirmed when the full Senate takes up a vote.
Stefanik, 40, would be the youngest-ever U.S. ambassador to the UN. The New York Republican has served in a leadership position as Republican conference chair, and she was on the House Armed Services Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. And that skillset honed in Congress will serve her well, said John Alterman, senior vice president and director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Alterman said Stefanik brings some of the most important qualities a UN ambassador can have — a close relationship with the president and an ability to communicate and execute his policies.
“The most important part of being a representative is having a relationship to the president, being able to speak for the president, and speak for the administration’s policies,” Alterman said. “I think she is very good at thinking about messaging, she understands the president’s instincts and he likes her.”
“And I think the political skill that you pick up being in Congress ends up being really helpful when you’re working in the UN,” Alterman continued. “I mean, a lot of it is about building coalitions, about neutralizing opposition, about finding compromises. All those kinds of things are skills that Congress and other kinds of political experience is great for.”
Trump’s pick to represent the U.S. at the UN is also one of the institution’s most vocal critics. Stefanik has blasted the UN as antisemitic, lambasting its approach to Israel in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack.
After the UN in September overwhelmingly passed a nonbinding resolution demanding that Israel end its “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months, Stefanik said the UN’s “antisemitic rot is on full display as it punishes Israel for defending itself.” Stefanik has been highly critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the situation in the Middle East, and she was the first high-ranking House member to visit Israel after Hamas’ attack. She will no doubt play a role in the aftermath of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel that took effect this weekend. .
Stefanik has championed Mr. Trump’s “America first” messaging and agenda, insisting the United States needs to focus its spending, energy and attention on issues directly affecting the U.S. While Stefanik has supported military assistance to Ukraine in the past and voted to sanction Russia before it expanded its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she has opposed recent, additional aid. In April 2024, she was one of 112 Republicans to vote against a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine.
When Mr. Trump announced her as his pick for the UN, Stefanik said she is “ready to advance President Donald Jr. Trump’s restoration of America first peace through strength leadership on the world stage on day one.”
Alterman said he thinks people “underestimate her communication skills.”
“I think she’s very smart and savvy,” Alterman said. “And having an ambassador to the UN who can understand the impact of her words and actions advances the administration’s agenda.”
Who is Elise Stefanik?
Elected to represent New York’s 21st Congressional District in 2014, Stefanik was the youngest Republican woman to join Congress at the age of 30. She has easily won reelection in her upstate New York district ever since. As GOP conference chair, Stefanik has been the highest-ranking woman in the House.
Born and raised in upstate New York, Stefanik was the first in her immediate family to earn a college degree, according to her office. She graduated from Harvard University, where she studied government.
In her 20s, she worked in the White House on President George W. Bush’s Domestic Policy Council.
Stefanik and her husband have one son.
How to watch Elise Stefanik’s confirmation hearing
- What: Elise Stefanik’s confirmation hearing
- Date: Tuesday, Jan. 21
- Time: 10 a.m.
- Location: House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing room, Capitol Hill
- Online stream: Live on CBS News in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device.
Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
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