Donald Trump’s first personnel failure was the collapse of former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s attorney general nomination. That was soon followed by Chad Chronister’s failed nomination to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration and former Rep. Dave Weldon’s failed nomination to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The list is still growing — and the latest addition to the list is arguably the most dramatic. The president announced by way of his social media platform that Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is no longer his choice to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations:
As we advance our America First Agenda, it is essential that we maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress. … With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat. The people love Elise and, with her, we have nothing to worry about come Election Day. There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations. Therefore, Elise will stay in Congress, rejoin the House Leadership Team, and continue to fight for our amazing American People.
Unlike some of Trump’s other failed nominees, there was never any real doubt that Stefanik would be confirmed, probably on a bipartisan basis. Her nomination nevertheless languished as Senate Republicans scrambled to quickly approve other White House picks, for one simple reason: House GOP leaders, struggling with a tiny majority, didn’t want to lose her vote.
But with House Republicans likely to pick up two new members in Florida’s congressional special elections next week, the conventional wisdom was that Stefanik’s nomination would soon be back on track.
Evidently, those assumptions were wrong.
Trump’s candor was of interest. He didn’t want to “take a chance” on her congressional seat. In case this isn’t obvious, Stefanik’s congressional district, in the northeastern corner of the Empire State, is generally seen as a Republican stronghold. Indeed, Trump won the district last fall by 21 points.
But as Democrats prove that they can compete in reliably red districts, GOP officials were apparently afraid of what could happen in a special election in New York.
Trump’s statement added that Stefanik will now “rejoin the House Leadership Team,” which might come as a surprise to Republican Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, who succeeded Stefanik as the House GOP Conference chair.
As the dust settles on the news, a couple of other dimensions to the story are worth keeping in mind. The first is that Stefanik worked tirelessly throughout the 2024 election season to help Trump’s ticket, engaged in shameless sycophancy, and she was reportedly even under consideration to be his vice presidential nominee. After Trump prevailed, no one was surprised to see him offer the congresswoman an important reward that would have advanced her career considerably. As things stand, however, Stefanik is right back where she was, effectively walking away from the process empty-handed. Finally, there’s a pattern of note: After Trump won a second term, he tapped three sitting members of the U.S. House for his team: Florida’s Gaetz, Florida’s Mike Waltz and Stefanik. Gaetz’s nomination proved to be a fiasco; Waltz’s tenure as White House national security advisor really isn’t going well; and Stefanik’s U.N. nomination is no more. When drawing up a list of Trump’s second-term failures, don’t forget to include his personnel disasters.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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