A former adviser to President Donald Trump, once blamed during the “Signalgate” controversy, returned to prominence Friday after winning Senate confirmation to a top diplomatic post.
Mike Waltz, the former national security adviser who came under fire for inadvertently adding a liberal reporter to a sensitive discussion among senior officials on the Signal app, was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The appointment fulfills what some Trump aides had described as a reward for Waltz’s loyalty during the campaign and the early months of Trump’s second term.
As ambassador, Waltz will play a central role in U.S. diplomacy, including NATO policy, Europe’s response to Israel’s war with Hamas, and support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Waltz, a former Republican congressman, was confirmed on a 47-43 largely party-line vote. Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire joined Republicans in supporting his nomination, while Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican to oppose it.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., this week invoked the “nuclear option,” changing Senate rules to allow many of President Trump’s nominees to be confirmed by simple majority votes. Democrats had signaled they would use every procedural tool available to slow the process by forcing individual floor votes.
On the first day under the new rules, the Senate confirmed Waltz, 51, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, along with 48 other mid-level Trump nominees, Politico reported.