'They pulled it': Republican takes credit for derailing confirmation of Trump Cabinet pick
Former National Security adviser Mike Waltz, nominated to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 15, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
One three-term Senate Republican is now claiming responsibility for throwing doubt on the confirmation of President Donald Trump's latest Cabinet appointment.
Axios reported Wednesday that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) acknowledged that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scuttled a planned confirmation vote for former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who Trump picked as his administration's next ambassador to the United Nations (UN). Because Republicans have only a slim 12-10 majority in the committee, a single Republican defection would lead to a tie, making confirmation impossible.
"They pulled it for now," Paul said of Waltz's planned confirmation vote. "We're going to see what happens over the next week."
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During his confirmation hearing last Tuesday, Paul grilled Waltz over his past support for keeping approximately 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan when Waltz was a member of the House of Representatives. The Kentucky Republican said during the hearing that he resented Waltz's vote — noting that he took the same position as one of Trump's biggest political opponents.
"The idea that Congress should be involved with declaring war is sort of passé. It's old-fashioned," Paul said at the time. "But when it comes to ending a war, you voted with Liz Cheney and the others to say that the president couldn't end the war."
If Waltz hopes to make it out of the committee and have his nomination advanced to the full Senate, he would need one Democratic senator to vote with Republicans. Should his nomination fail, Axios reported that one likely replacement could be Richard Grenell, who was Trump's one-time acting director of national intelligence and who is currently involved in an overseas real estate development project with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Trump initially nominated Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as UN ambassador, though her nomination ended up being stalled for months as Republicans were hesitant to lose her vote due to their slim House majority. Stefanik gave up her position as House Republican Conference chair in anticipation of her confirmation. She's now reportedly mulling a run for governor of New York in 2026.
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Click here to read Axios' full article.
