With few Senators voting against her, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley easily won confirmation as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday evening.
Haley won confirmation with a lopsided, bipartisan vote of 96 to 4 to become the fourth of President Trump’s nominees to win confirmation.
Even as she won confirmation, though, Republicans insisted that Haley was such a non-controversial nominee that she should have been among several who could have been confirmed days earlier.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said, according to CNN:
Our Democratic friends need to get over the fact that the election is over and now we have the responsibility of governing — hopefully, together. But instead so far they’ve just chosen to obstruct and foot-drag, and to me one of the most shameful and reckless parts of this is the way in which they delayed the confirmation of an important member of President Trump’s National Security Cabinet.
Still, Haley has been a strong critic of the United Nations and even criticized the UN during her confirmation hearing last week.
“We contribute 22 percent of the UN’s budget, far more than any other country. We are a generous nation. But we must ask ourselves what good is being accomplished by this disproportionate contribution,” Haley said during her January 18 hearing.
Haley joins only six other Trump nominees who have advanced far into confirmation process. Thus far, only three others have been confirmed — including James Mattis, who was confirmed as Trump’s Secretary of Defense; John Kelly, now taking his place as Homeland Security chief; and Mike Pompeo, who won confirmation as CIA Director. In addition, Ben Carson, Elaine Chao, Rex Tillerson, and Wilbur Ross have been approved by committee but still await a final vote.
Trump’s appointment of Ajit Pai to FCC chairman doesn’t need Senate confirmation because he was already serving a term on the FCC board. If, however, Trump were to name Pai to continue as the chairman as his current term ends, he will need to be reconfirmed by the Senate, Politico notes.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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