President-elect Donald Trump He selected Rep. Elise Stefani to be his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, multiple Trump officials told ABC News.
“I am honored that the President has nominated Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as US Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough and intelligent America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement to ABC News.
Stefani, a Republican congressman from New York’s 21st district, was elected last week to a sixth term in the House. Born in 1984, he was in the 2014 election the youngest woman to ever win a seat in Congress.
He entered House leadership in May 2021, when he was elected chairman of the House Republican Conference. He replaced former Rep. Liz Cheney in the role after Cheney denounced her party’s criticism of Trump on January 6.
Elise Stefani, R-New York, speaks at a campaign rally for former U.S. President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on October 27, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Stefanik came to Congress as a relatively moderate Republican and skipped the 2016 Republican National Convention when Trump became the party’s presidential nominee.
But he became one of Trump’s biggest allies, suing for his first impeachment in 2019 and then contesting the results of the 2020 election.
Over the past year, he played a leading role in House Republicans’ response to anti-Semitism on college campuses. The university president grilled Israel and Hamas about his handling of campus protests over the war, and several of them later resigned from their positions.
Stefani, a staunch supporter of Israel, has also repeatedly accused the United Nations of anti-Semitism. He has called for the withdrawal of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, the main distributor of aid to Gaza, amid allegations that Israel has infiltrated the Hamas group.
Stefani told the New York Post, how early notify Developments in Trump’s decision, he said, “it was truly an honor to be nominated by President Trump to serve in his cabinet as the US ambassador to the United Nations.”
Stefani said that speaking with Trump “I am humbled to accept his nomination and look forward to the support of my colleagues in the United States Senate.”
Control of the House remains in the balance, with several key races not called, even as Republicans are closing in on the number of seats they need to win a majority.
Stefani will have to give up her seat to become ambassador, although she would not be confirmed for her new role until after her term as president.
New York law requires Governor Kathy Hochul to set a special election date by proclamation within 10 days of the seat becoming vacant, and the election date itself no later than 70 days, but no later than 80 days, from the date of the proclamation.
Stefani handily won re-election last week, beating her Democratic opponent by 24 points. Although the New York State Republican Party told ABC News they have “no comment on the candidates at this stage,” Chairman Ed Cox said he was confident the seat would be a Republican.
“On behalf of the Republican Party of New York, I congratulate Elise Stefanik and her team on this well-deserved honor and commend President Trump for making such a wise and thoughtful selection,” Cox said in part in a statement.
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler, Brittany Shepherd, Lauren Peller and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
