WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday approved former White House national security adviser Mike Waltz to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, ending a nine-month ordeal where the U.S. was without a permanent representative to the organization.
The vote likely will allow Waltz to participate in next week’s U.N. General Assembly in New York, easing earlier concerns he wouldn’t be confirmed in time. President Donald Trump is expected to deliver remarks at the annual gathering on Tuesday.
Senators confirmed Waltz in a 47-43 vote. Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire were the only Democrats to vote yes. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the sole Republican to vote no.
Trump announced in May that he was nominating Waltz, 51, to the diplomatic job after serving as his White House national security adviser since the president was sworn into office in January. Waltz had been on thin ice with Trump since March, when he admitted to accidentally adding a journalist to a private thread on the messaging app Signal with other top national security officials to discuss military strikes in Yemen.
At his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this summer, Waltz stressed the need for reform at the U.N., including a desire to review U.S. funding, as well as rooting out antisemitism in the institution. Before joining the Trump White House, Waltz served in the House from 2019 to 2025.
The president had originally nominated Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to serve as ambassador to the U.N., but he ultimately withdrew her from the process in March. Trump cited his concern that Stefanik’s departure from the House would make it even more difficult to pass his agenda with the GOP’s already slim majority.
Waltz will take over from career Ambassador Dorothy Shea, who has held the seat in an acting capacity since the start of the second Trump administration.
His U.S. representation at the U.N. comes at a precarious time in international affairs as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine rage with no end in sight.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas have not progressed and the Israel Defense Forces launched a ground offensive into Gaza City this week. Trump, meanwhile, has expressed his disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to cooperate in trying to end the war with Ukraine and European nations have been calling on the U.S. to ramp up pressure on Russia.