Former White House national security adviser confirmed as US ambassador to UN

Washington, Sep 20 (IANS) The US Senate voted to confirm Mike Waltz, a former White House national security adviser, to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations, filling the eight-month vacancy for this post.

The 47-43 vote clears the way for Waltz to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week, where US President Donald Trump is scheduled to address the annual gathering on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

During his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this summer, Waltz stressed the need for reform at the UN, including a review of US funding and measures to root out anti-Semitism in the institution, according to an NBC News report.

Waltz had served as Trump's national security adviser since January but stepped down after mistakenly adding a journalist to a private Signal chat with senior national security officials discussing an upcoming strike in Yemen in March.

On March 27, Trump withdrew his nomination of Republican Elise Stefanik to be the US ambassador to the United Nations. Waltz was then nominated by Trump for the post in May.

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield left her office on January 20 when Trump took office as US president.

Senators John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire were the only Democrats to vote yes. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the sole Republican to vote no.

Trump announced in May that he was nominating Waltz, 51, to the diplomatic job after serving as his White House national security adviser since the president was sworn into office in January. Waltz had been on thin ice with Trump since March, when he admitted to accidentally adding a journalist to a private thread on the messaging app Signal with other top national security officials to discuss military strikes in Yemen.

--IANS

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