WASHINGTON — Rep. Elise Stefanik pledged Tuesday to push President Trump’s “America First” stance if confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and roll out a review of U.S. funding critical for U.N. agencies handling health programs and more around the world.
Noting that the United States is the largest single contributor to the United Nations, Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said at her confirmation hearing that the country 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 U.N., where several resolutions have passed condemning Israel over its war in Gaza, and went so far as to say that it has not lived up to its founding mission. Lawmakers also noted the ability for American rivals Russia and China to veto resolutions in the most powerful U.N. body, the Security Council, notably on the invasion of Ukraine.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the committee chairman, set the tone by sharply criticizing the U.N., saying 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.
The United States pays about one-fifth of the U.N.’s regular budget, and Stefanik was questioned repeatedly about U.S. support for its multiple agencies, which tackle matters including health, education, migration, reproductive rights and nuclear proliferation.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the committee, stressed the importance of America’s presence at the U.N. and how China and other adversaries could fill the vacuum if the U.S. takes a step back.
“We benefit from U.N. peacekeeping missions that would otherwise fall to the American military,” Shaheen said. “We are better off because of efforts to stabilize societies and provide lifesaving assistance in places like Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.”
Stefanik responded that she is open to reviewing agencies to ensure “that all of our taxpayer dollars are going to U.N. entities that function very well.” She pointed to the children’s agency UNICEF and the World Food Program as examples of those that are “effective.”
She said she supported Trump moving to pull U.S. funding from the U.N.’s World Health Organization in one of his first executive orders Monday.
Stefanik, a fierce Trump ally who repeated his idea of “peace through strength,” was asked about her views on a number of global issues, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine as well as the Iranian nuclear program — all items on the U.N. agenda.
She called Iran “the most significant threat to world peace.” She agreed with Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) about supporting efforts to strengthen alliances, especially when it comes to countering China’s influence at the world body, even though Trump has been skeptical of such global partnerships, such as NATO.
Asked by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) about Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, Stefanik confirmed that her comments to the senator about Israel having a “biblical right” to the occupied territory still stand. Her comments came after Trump rescinded the Biden administration’s sanctions on Israeli settlers.
“I was interested in this position because if you look at the antisemitic rot within the United Nations, there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, any other crisis combined,” Stefanik testified.
Harvard-educated and the fourth-ranking member of the U.S. House, Stefanik was elected to Congress in 2015 as a moderate Republican but became one of Trump’s most ardent allies. She embraced Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as he denied he lost the election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Stefanik saw her profile rise after her aggressive questioning last year of a trio of university presidents about perceived antisemitism on their campuses during protests over Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip — after which two of them resigned — a performance Trump repeatedly praised.
Stefanik most recently was the most senior and longest-serving woman on both the House Armed Services Committee and the House committee that oversees national intelligence. Stefanik also was tapped to be on a select committee focused on strategic competition between the U.S. and China.
Born and raised in upstate New York, Stefanik worked in the George W. Bush 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.
Amiri and Lederer write for the Associated Press.