Elise Stefanik's star continues to rise.
The New York congresswoman from upstate's 21st District has accepted the position of United Nations ambassador in president-elect Donald Trump's cabinet. The 40 year-old Harvard grad from Albany will have plenty of opportunities to display her grit and moxie on the world stage, right in her virtual backyard.
“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement to The New York Post Sunday night.
As chair of the House Republican Conference since 2021--she replaced the ousted Liz Cheney--Stefanik is the fourth-ranking House Republican. She was an early and vocal supporter of Trump. Memorably, Stefanik vehemently opposed the 2019 impeachment, speaking in the president's defense.
More recently, Stefanik gained notoriety as an anti-Semitic attack dog. In congressional hearings over university responses to the Palestine-Israel conflict following October 7th, Stefanik mercilessly questioned the presidents of several Ivy League universities. Her central inquiry: whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated campus codes of conduct.
Her work in the hearings was so effective that even the New York Times begrudgingly admitted as much earlier this year:
Her line of questioning at a December hearing helped push the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania out of their jobs. Last month, she put Columbia’s president in the uncomfortable position of negotiating faculty administrative decisions from the witness stand...Ms. Stefanik, 39, was already a rising star within her party before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war turbocharged concerns about antisemitic incidents in American education. A Harvard graduate herself, she is the top-ranking woman in Republican House leadership and is considered a potential presidential running mate.
OK, so the running mate idea was a bridge too far this time around (she was likely considered too young). Now, all eyes will be on Stefanik as she negotiates for the US from the UN platform. Trump will likely encourage her to use as a bully pulpit, as he has little use for the organization that has become all but synonymous with the WHO and WEF.
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Stefanik will be part of an emerging conservative dream team. With RFK Jr. overseeing health agencies, Tom Homan running ICE (and in the unofficial position of "Border Czar"), Stephen Miller as Deputy Chief of Staff, and rumored Secretary of State Vivek Ramaswamy, the words that come to mind when considering Trump's opening round of picks are fierce, and loyal.
Hopefully the fracas over Majority Leader in the US Senate will be resolved with Rick Scott taking the helm. Regardless, things are shaping up quickly as we await the official beginning of Trump 2.0.
