BURSTPresident Trump’s decision to yank Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations is prompting a plethora of questions about the New York Republican's future on Capitol Hill.
In his statement announcing the move, Trump said the congresswoman would “rejoin the House Leadership Team.” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) echoed that plan, saying he would “invite her to return to the leadership table immediately.”
But it is unclear where Stefanik will fit in after relinquishing the position of House GOP conference chair, which she held for nearly four years, upon her nomination for UN ambassador.
Trump said he was pulling her as his pick to go to New York City because of the House’s razor-thin majority.
House GOP lawmakers in November elected Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) to take her spot in the No. 4 position. The Michigan Republican does not plan to resign from that slot, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill. All the other top elected leadership posts are filled.
One House GOP leadership source told The Hill that top lawmakers are looking for a spot for Stefanik to land, underscoring that they do not want her to leave the House after the blow to her career plans.
“We are trying to create a position for her,” the source said. “We want her to stay in Congress and not leave.”
One possibility is that Johnson appoints Stefanik to be chair of the Elected Leadership Committee, a currently-vacant Speaker-appointed position that is also referred to as the “chair of chairs” but would be a major step down for Stefanik.
It would, however, make Stefanik part of the House GOP steering committee that makes decisions on committee assignments, and those in the position have been part of key leadership meetings in the past. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) resurrected the position to put former Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), his close confidant, in the post.
Asked what Stefanik in leadership would look like after the news broke, a second House GOP leadership source said “not sure” — underscoring the surprising, and sensitive, nature of Trump’s announcement.
Aside from leadership, Stefanik’s future committee work is unclear. The New York Republican sat on the plum House Intelligence Committee, which is now at capacity after Johnson filled her spot and others left vacant at the beginning of the 119th Congress.
She was also previously a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where she grabbed headlines with her questioning of university presidents about antisemitism on their campuses.
Trump’s decision to yank Stefanik’s nomination is a remarkable blow to the congresswoman, who turned from being a Trump skeptic to one of his strongest and loudest supporters.
The 40-year-old congresswoman replaced former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021 after Cheney was ousted over her criticism of Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
She went on to become one of Trump’s most ardent supporters on Capitol Hill and, in turn, an early pick from the then-president-elect. Trump announced her nomination on Nov. 11.
But despite that early nod and bipartisan support for her confirmation, Stefanik’s nomination stalled for weeks as House Republicans grappled with their razor-thin majority and stared down a number of high-stakes legislative undertakings, including adopting the conference’s framework to pass Trump’s domestic policy agenda and averting a government shutdown.
Still, Trump indicated that Stefanik may be called to leave the House again in the future.
“I look forward to the day when Elise is able to join my Administration in the future. She is absolutely FANTASTIC,” he wrote.