Stefanik has proven her mettle and star-power give her the House roles she deserves
Rep.Elise Stefanik just proved her mettle yet again, as the White House pulled her nomination to be US ambassador to the United Nations months after the fact because it belatedly realized the risks of vacating her House seat.Stefanik painted it as “about stepping up as a team” in order “to ensure that we can take hold of this mandate,” namely last November’s election results.Aargh! Moving this fierce and clever woman up to the UN job had strong bipartisan support: She cleared committee weeks ago; the only thing delaying a resounding Senate confirmation was the GOP’s need for her vote in the House.
It’s a loss for the nation at the UN, where her sharp mind and quick tongue would’ve scourged the forces of hate and the apologists for oppression, just as she led the charge last year in outing top US university presidents’ shameful incoherence in the face of antisemitic bullying on campus.But politics is politics, and the razor-thin GOP House majority will be sorely tested to pass President Trump’s “big beautiful bill” this spring to actually deliver on Trump’s campaign promises and get the economy booming again.With Gov.Kathy Hochul, empowered to set the date for a special election to replace Stefanik should she leave the House, threatening to leave the seat empty (and her Upstate constituents without representation) for up to nine months, letting the North Country superstar head to the UN was just too risky.Now the question is: How to make sure her skills aren’t wasted now that she’s staying in Congress?After all, she’s been an overachiever since 2014, when she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, and was No.
4 in House GOP leadership when she got the UN nod.Speaker Mike Johnson has promised to “invite her to return to the leadership table immediately,” but Stefanik gave up her role as House GOP conference chair after she was nominated and the committee spots she vacated have now been filled.One possibility is to ...