President Donald Trump announced on Thursday he will be nominating now former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, a post he abruptly took from Rep. Elise Stefanik over concerns about holding on to the Lower House.
"From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation's Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role," said Trump. He added that Secretary Marco Rubio will hold the post in the meantime.
Waltz leaves his post weeks after he came under heavy scrutiny after inadvertently adding a journalist to a Signal chat where highly sensitive information related to an upcoming attack on Yemen's Houthi rebels was discussed.
President Donald Trump has defended Waltz throughout the backlash over the security risks and for discussing sensitive information over Signal. However, he is set to face a testy confirmation hearing, with Democrats likely to question him over the incident.
Should he be confirmed, Waltz will hold the post that Stefanik was longing to get. Axios reported that Stefanik was "crushed and scrambled to reverse Trump's decision before he announced it, but the president refused to take any chances as Republicans currently hold a 218-213 majority in the House of Representatives, the smallest margin since 1931.
Stefanik is now considering the possibility of running for New York governor. She would likely be the GOP candidate should she decide to do so, a new poll released this week showed.
Concretely, Stefanik would get 44% of the vote among GOP voters, a significant difference compared to the runner up, lower Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler (7%). Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman would get 5%, added the survey, conducted by Republican pollster Landon Wall with GrayHouse.
Stefanik, who has a higher profile given her status as a national lawmaker and close Donald Trump ally, is better known than her potential competitors. 56% of those surveyed said they have a favorable view of her, while only 9% hold an unfavorable one.
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