A Republican senator just put two of Trump’s most controversial ambassador picks on notice, and he has the power to torpedo both nominations before they even reach the Senate floor.
Sen. John Curtis (R-UT), who recently floated quitting Congress to run for governor, told Punchbowl News on Tuesday that his “radar is up” on Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano’s nominations for ambassador to Jamaica and Slovakia, respectively, citing their election-denying backgrounds.
Curtis sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which processes ambassador nominations. A single GOP no vote is enough to deadlock the committee and sink a nomination.
“I have some first impressions, and I don’t mind telling you they’re not the best,” Curtis said. “But I’m open to what the role is, what the country needs, what they tell me about how they feel about positions they’ve had before that might be problematic.”
Lake’s nomination to Jamaica follows a string of controversies. She denied the 2020 presidential election results, refused to concede her own 2022 loss to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, and lost a 2024 Senate race despite Trump carrying her state. Her tenure overseeing Voice of America was marked by mass layoffs that a federal court later ruled unlawful.
Mastriano, a Pennsylvania state senator, was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and was involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He lost his 2022 gubernatorial bid to now-Gov. Josh Shapiro by nearly 15 points.
Even if both nominees clear Foreign Relations, more trouble awaits. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has already told the Washington Examiner he’ll likely vote no on both — citing Mastriano’s Jan. 6 views and Lake’s “history.”
Four Republican “no” votes on the Senate floor would end either nomination.
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