Stefanik mostly impresses at Senate Foreign Relations hearing

WASHINGTON — Rep. Elise Stefanik’s Senate confirmation hearing to be the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations went smoothly on Tuesday, a departure from the frequent partisan tussles with Democrats common in her previous post as a top-ranking House Republican.

The Stefanik who appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was mostly a throwback to her earlier days on Capitol Hill, when she was for a time the youngest woman ever elected to Congress and impressed senior lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who saw her as a future leader: moderate, pragmatic and well-prepared.

Stefanik, R-N.Y., who has been in the House since 2015, appeared to be well-received by senators from both parties despite moments of tension with a few Democrats. If confirmed, she would be the first U.N. ambassador in more than two decades to come directly from Congress.

“I have deep respect and understanding of the oversight and appropriations role of the legislative branch,” said Stefanik, who until recently was the House Republican Conference chairwoman, the third highest-ranking GOP position in the House. “I look forward to using my strong House and Senate relationships to deliver these much needed (U.N.) reforms. We are truly at a critical point in history. The world must be reminded of the key mission of the United Nations and America’s role as its formative leader.”

Her hearing also showcased deep divides between Democrats and some Republicans on whether and how the U.S. should fund the U.N. system.

While Democrats acknowledge the need for bureaucratic changes in the U.N. system, some Republicans such as Chairman Jim Risch of Idaho and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah urge a much tougher line, up to and including an end to all U.N. funding and a withdrawal from the United Nations itself.

“I believe it is reasonable to evaluate every U.N. agency to determine if what they are doing is directly beneficial to America and hold them to account until the answer is a resounding yes,” Risch said. “Anything less should not be tolerated. If these agencies cannot be changed and at this point, the U.S. should seriously examine if further contributions and indeed participation in the U.N. is even beneficial to the American people.”

Stefanik didn’t join in such harsh criticism. She said she would “support tailored cuts.”

“I want to work with our appropriators specifically on how we can be most effective and judicious in making those cuts,” said Stefanik, a long-serving member of both the House Armed Services and Intelligence panels.

President Donald Trump signed an order Monday to resume the effort from his previous administration to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, a U.N. agency.

U.S. government funding to the United Nations and its agencies varies from year to year. In 2019, it was nearly $11.1 billion, rose to $18.1 billion in 2022, and then fell to $13 billion in 2023, according to the U.N. System Chief Executives Board, which provides strategic direction to the broader U.N. system.

“I want to provide this committee with full transparency about where every dollar is going within the U.N. system, which frankly this committee has not gotten before, and we deserve that as good stewards of U.S. taxpayer dollars,” Stefanik said.

Stefanik, after starting her career as a moderate, became one of Trump’s biggest Hill defenders during his first administration and has called herself “ultra-MAGA and proud of it.”

Glimpses of Stefanik’s old partisan style could be seen in her sharp responses to Democrats’ questions about a 2022 campaign ad that was criticized at the time for having racist undertones and about the future of Palestinian self-determination.

She also refused to criticize tech billionaire Elon Musk for twice making a hand gesture that critics say resembled a Nazi salute at a Monday rally in honor of Trump’s inauguration.

“No, Elon Musk did not do those salutes. I was not at the rally, but I can tell you, I’ve been at many rallies with Elon Musk, who loves to cheer,” she said. “Elon Musk is a visionary. I’m looking forward to his work in DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency.”

Easily the topic Stefanik received the most questions about was how to push back on China’s efforts — many of them successful — to boost its influence within the U.N. system.

“We need to have a strategy. And this came up in virtually every conversation with senators from both sides of the aisle,” she said of her goal of developing a “personnel” strategy for fielding more officials throughout all levels and branches of the U.N. hierarchy who are American or come from allied countries.

Specific attention should go to increasing friendly leadership in the U.N.’s technical organizations, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the International Telecommunication Union, she said.

“It needs to be a long-term strategy, working closely with our allies and our partners, both at the most junior levels and at the more senior levels within the U.N.,” Stefanik said. “We need to make sure that we’re running candidates, either American or allied nations, in the elections process for key leadership posts within the U.N system.”

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