AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) reportedly “scrambled” to get President Donald Trump to reverse course on withdrawing her nomination as Ambassador to the United Nations.
On Thursday, CBS News reported that Stefanik was under pressure to withdraw her name from consideration because Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House, which they control 218-213. Four seats are vacant and special elections will be held to fill them within the next few months. Two of those seats – AZ-7 and TX-18 – are solidly Democratic districts. The other two districts – FL-1 and FL-6 – are normally solidly red, but Republicans are concerned about the poor polling numbers of their nominee Randy Fine in FL-6, where his Democratic opponent is polling within the margin of error.
Shortly after the CBS News report dropped, Trump pulled Stefanik’s nomination.
“As we advance our America First Agenda, it is essential that we maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress,” he wrote.
According to sources who spoke with Axios, Stefanik did not exactly go – or rather, remain, quietly.
“Stefanik was crushed and scrambled to reverse Trump’s decision before he announced it on Truth Social, according to people familiar with the matter,” the outlet reported. “But for Trump, the margins were too close for comfort.”
Fine, who is in a tight race in FL-6, is looking to replace Mike Waltz, who resigned his seat to become Trump’s national security advisor. This week, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic reported that Waltz accidentally added him to a group chat of Trump officials who discussed forthcoming airstrikes on Yemen. Though Waltz is under pressure over the blunder, Trump reportedly does not want to fire him because doing so would be viewed as “giving in to the media.”
On Thursday evening, Stefanik appeared on Fox News for an interview, which Kayleigh McEnany wrapped up by telling Stefanik, “You’re being praised as a selfless warrior.”
