Elise Stefanik pledges an ‘America First’ agenda at the U.N. and a review of U.S. funding

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U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik opened her confirmation hearing Tuesday for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations by pledging to implement President Donald Trump’s “America First” mandate and roll out a review of U.S. funding for some of the world body’s agencies.

Noting that the U.S. is the largest single contributor to the United Nations, she pointed to the children’s agency UNICEF and the World Food Program as examples of U.N. entities that are “effective” but said the U.S. has to ensure its investments are making America safer, stronger and more prosperous — echoing Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Our tax dollars should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests, antisemitic, or engaging in fraud, corruption or terrorism,” Stefanik said in her opening remarks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

She stressed the need to reform the world body, where lawmakers raised the ability of American adversaries Russia and China to veto resolutions in the U.N. Security Council, and went so far as to say that it has not lived up to its founding mission.

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, the Republican committee Chair, set the tone by sharply criticizing the U.N. at the start of the hearing, saying that Stefanik “can bring much-needed change” to the institution.

“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,” the Idaho lawmaker said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “looks forward to working again with President Trump on his second term,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday.

When Trump announced Stefanik’s appointment, his former National Security Adviser John Bolton told The Associated Press that he sees her as the new version of Trump’s U.N. Ambassador in his first administration — Nikki Haley. Haley went on to challenge him, unsuccessfully, for the GOP nomination last year.

Stefanik “wants to run for President in 2028,” said Bolton, who also served as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. in President George W. Bush’s administration. “She realizes she has no foreign policy experience, so what better way than to become U.N. Ambassador. She stays two years, and then away we go.”

Stefanik is likely to be grilled about her views on the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere as well as the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs — all issues on the U.N. agenda.

The United States pays about one-fifth of the U.N.’s regular budget, and she has already been questioned about her comments on cutting the U.N. budget and continuing support for its multiple agencies. Those tackle everything from health, education and migration to reproductive rights and nuclear proliferation.

She responded by saying she is open to reviewing agencies to ensure “that all of our taxpayer dollars are going to entities that function very well.”

Stefanik saw her profile rise after her aggressive questioning last year of a trio of university Presidents about antisemitism on their campuses, leading to two of their resignations — a performance Trump repeatedly praised.

She has been very vocal about supporting Israel, especially since the Hamas cross-border attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, in which militants killed about 1,200 people and took some 250 hostage. It led to the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza, where a ceasefire that the U.S. helped broker has taken hold.

Stefanik has accused the U.N. of being a “den of antisemitism” for criticizing Israel’s air and ground attacks on Gaza, which have resulted in more than 46,000 Palestinian deaths, according to local health officials. They do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half the dead.

If confirmed, Stefanik said she plans to confront what she says is antisemitism at the world body.

Her limited foreign policy experience outside Capitol Hill is almost certain to come up among senators.

Stefanik most recently was the most senior and longest-serving woman on both the House Armed Services Committee and the coveted House committee that oversees national intelligence.

Stefanik was also tapped to be on a select committee focused on strategic competition between the U.S. and China and spent years as part of a group of House members negotiating the annual defense authorization bill, which determines funding for the military. In 2023, she also led a bipartisan delegation of members to the Indo-Pacific including Japan, Singapore and Thailand to meet with various government, military and cultural leaders in the region.

Born and raised in upstate New York, Stefanik worked in Bush’s White House on the domestic policy council and in the Chief of Staff’s office.

She was the youngest person in her freshman class in Congress — just 30 — and ascended to the House leadership team in 2021, becoming the only woman.

Unlike Rubio, who was confirmed in a unanimous vote Monday night, only one Democrat — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — has publicly said he would vote to confirm Stefanik thus far.

But, many other Democrats have left meetings with her indicating their support, including U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who is Jewish and noted their discussions on how Stefanik “plans to push back on politically motivated actions” against Israel when at the U.N.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.