According to sources, Trump is offering Rep. Elise Stefanik the role of UN ambassador

CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump has offered Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik the job as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, two familiar sources told CNN on Sunday.

The New York congresswoman, the fourth-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, has been a strong ally of the president-elect and a major fundraiser for the Republican Party.

CNN has reached out to Stefanik for comment.

Stefanik, the chairman of the House Republican Conference, has been one of Trump’s most loyal supporters in Congress for years. Her aggressive demeanor during his impeachment hearings in 2019 made her a “Republican star,” as Trump himself said at the time. And again, she stood up for Trump after his loss in 2020, when she objected to the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the House of Representatives and promoted Trump’s false claims of voter fraud.

But she wasn’t always Trump’s biggest fan: The New York Republican, who was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at the time of her primary victory in 2014, voted against one of his most important legislative victories – his 2017 tax plan. As a self-proclaimed An “independent voice” who had displayed a moderate personality, she had previously received high praise from former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who wrote in Time magazine that Stefanik was one “Builder – not an easy job in a time when there are so many. “Politics is about tearing people down.” She worked for Ryan during Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign.

Once a Trump skeptic – and occasional outspoken critic – during his 2016 presidential campaign and the early days of his presidency, she transitioned from critic to defender – a move she explained was due in part to Trump’s popularity in her district in the state to New York.

When Trump sought the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, she was among a handful of potential candidates she openly campaigned for. She also told CNN earlier this year that she was “proud to be a top official” and would “proudly serve in a future Trump administration.”

Stefanik replaced the then-MP. Liz Cheney will become chairwoman of the GOP conference in May 2021 after the Wyoming Republican denounced Trump’s election falsehoods. She is a member of the Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, among others. Stefanik made headlines last year for her campaign to oust college leaders who, she and others saw, failed to adequately denounce anti-Semitism at a House hearing on the issue.

Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that he would “not re-invite” Nikki Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador under his first administration. Haley, the former South Carolina governor, later waged a bitter primary campaign against Trump before dropping out and ultimately endorsing him months later.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Gregory Krieg, Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck, Kaanita Iyer and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.