U.S. President Donald Trump’s cabinet may already be complete even though the Senate recessed last week without voting on the president’s nomination of his former national security advisor, Mike Waltz, to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
A reporter asked Trump on Sunday whether Waltz, who was a member of Trump’s cabinet, would remain in that close circle of advisors if confirmed to the role in Turtle Bay, where Democratic administrations have tended to opt for cabinet-level rank and Republican ones haven’t. Trump, however, was split in his first term.
“I haven’t determined that yet. That’s a good question,” Trump told the reporter. “I’ll make a decision. He’s a very good guy, but I’ll make a decision.”
Trump had nominated Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for the U.N. post, though withdrew her nomination out of concern about retaining the slim Republican majority in the House. The president dismissed Waltz from his role as national security advisor and said the former member of Congress had been nominated for the U.N. position.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to approve Waltz, but Senate Democrats forced their GOP colleagues to vote on all of Trump’s nominees to slow the Republican agenda.
Washington’s envoys to Turtle Bay got cabinet rank starting in 1953, but former President George H.W. Bush, a former U.N. ambassador, halted the practice. Former President Bill Clinton restored it, and former President George W. Bush, following his father’s lead, removed cabinet rank. Former President Barack Obama returned it.
Trump split the difference in his first term, granting cabinet rank to Nikki Haley but excluding Haley’s successor, Kelly Craft. Former President Joe Biden re-established cabinet rank for the envoy.
