The same day that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz finished his job at the White House, President Donald Trump announced a new job as former Florida lawmaker: the United Nations Ambassador.
However, there are some hurdles that Waltz must first clear before New York’s job is him — including undergoing the Senate confirmation process during scrutiny after Atlantic published a signal group chat that he set up in March to discuss a strike against the Hoosis.
And it’s not guaranteed to gain full support from the slim Republican majority in the Senate, and not all Republicans have been on board with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses. Vice President JD Vance voted for a tiebreak to eventually secure Hegseth’s nomination.
Democrats appear hungry to use the Waltz nomination as a forum to air complaints about other Trump administration foreign policy leaders, particularly Hegses.
Next is the US National Security Advisor? This is who Trump chose to replace the waltz.
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of Defense began meeting French President Emmanuel Macron on February 24, 2025. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
Still, Waltz’s nomination to represent the United States at the UN will attract support from Senate Republicans who were not with Hegses of the Pentagon, given that the ideological disparity between these Republicans and the Waltz is much smaller than with Hegses.
“He was able to guide the needle really, really well between the traditional, conservative foreign policy voice and the more populist American first policy voice,” a Florida GOP source said of the waltz.
Waltz fever
Waltz, who previously represented Florida’s 6th Congressional District, was a retired Army National Guard colonel, who had four deployments in Afghanistan and was a former Green Beret who won four bronze stars, earning the fourth highest military combat award issued for heroic service to armed enemies.
Both Waltz and Hegseth were caught up in a signal chat debating a strike plan against Houthis, but Hegseth attracted at least publicly more heat, at least from the incident. Democrats are calling for Hegses to step down as a result of the chat, but White House staff (including Waltz) have openly supported Hegs and reported that the administration is seeking a replacement for him.
But in his dissatisfaction with Trump’s foreign policy and national security agenda, Waltz has got his turn to attract lawmakers’ rage as Democrats find an opportunity to openly burn him in front of the Senate.
“National security in the 200th day under President Trump will clearly be as confusing as the first 100,” Senator Chris Coons said in a statement on Fox News Digital about his departure from the Waltz White House.
“President Trump’s consistent hilling, firing and upheaval sap morale has snatched morale from fighters and intelligence agents, degraded military preparations and is not ready to respond to threats from the enemy,” Coons said. “American citizens around the world are not very safe because of President Trump’s non-existent national security strategy.”
D-Ill Sen. Tammy Duckworth also targeted Waltz, but she named her the worst criminal on “Signalgate.”
Mike Waltz, other national security council staff, are on the latest Trump Purge following the signal chat leak
D-Ill Sen. Tammy Duckworth also targeted former national security adviser Mike Waltz, though she labeled the worst criminal on “Signalgate.” (Anna Money Maker/Getty Images)
“I took them long enough. Mike Waltz made a chain that was intentionally unclassified to discuss the issues that were classified,” Duckworth told X-Post Thursday ahead of Waltz’s UN ambassador’s appointment. “But of all the idiots in that chat, Hegses is the biggest security risk of all. He leaked information that put our troops at greater risk.
In addition to signal chat, the waltz exit from the White House was linked to several other issues. Axios, for example, reports that Waltz treated White House chief Susie Wiles like a “staff” and that his rudeness rubbed her the wrong way.
“He treated her like a staff member and didn’t realize he was a staff member. She’s a presidential embodied,” a White House official told Axios. “Sussie was a deep and loyal person, and that was dishonest, so the disrespect has gotten even worse.”
According to CBS News, Waltz reportedly discussed various roles he could take on following his stint at the White House at Wiles. Waltz reportedly was offered jobs, including the Saudi ambassador, but eventually settled on the UN ambassador.
A national security council spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Next Steps
With Waltz out as national security adviser, Secretary of State Marco Rubio temporarily resigns through that role.
Trump originally nominated Rep. Elise Stefanik to represent the United States at the United Nations, but he retracted her in March.
Stephanik’s nomination was behind in the Senate compared to other UN ambassador candidates, including Trump’s first UN ambassador and former South Carolina governor Nicky Haley. The Senate confirmed Haley in January, shortly after Trump’s first inauguration.
The exact timeline for potential confirmation slips in the Senate is unknown, but the first hurdle the Waltz must clear is that it is a confirmation vote for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It is uncertain when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will schedule a waltz nomination hearing and subsequent votes, but the committee said his appointment was a “priority.”
“The committee has been working at a historically fast pace and this appointment will be a priority for moving forward,” a GOP staff member for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told Fox News Digital.
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Rep. Elise Stefanik, RN.Y., will meet with Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming. (Rep. Elise Stefanik’s office)
The 80th session of the UN General Assembly is scheduled for September 9th, so waltz confirmations will be unfolding for several months, a source for the Florida GOP said. This means that the waltz will be able to take several months off, begin the confirmation process in June or July, and complete the confirmation by the latest September, sources said.
“He has plenty of time, so this isn’t an upcoming battle that will happen next week,” a Florida GOP source said. “This will probably unfold in June or July. By then people will either forget about SignalGate’s, or at least they will forget about the role of Mike Waltz.”
However, there are several Republican wildcards in the Senate who voted for some of the Trump candidates. Most notably, Senator Mitch McConnell, R-KY.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted against the Secretary of Defense in January. (J. Scott Apple White/Applications)
A spokesman for McConnell did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
Other Republicans who opposed Trump’s candidates include Alaska Officer Lisa Murkowski and Maine Susan Collins, both of whom voted against Hegses, as well as North Carolina’s Ted Budd and Kentucky’s Rand Paul.
Aside from the front of R-FLA Matt Gaetz, which Trump originally appointed as Attorney General, Trump’s entire cabinet has been approved. Gaetz has retracted the appointment during a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.
Despite opposition from Democrats and possibly a few Republicans, the fire facing Waltz is unlikely to sink his nomination.
“The reality is that the president could lose three votes in the Senate, and the Vice President could vote to break the draw,” a source for the Florida GOP said. “There’s probably no way he’ll lose three votes.”
Meanwhile, other Republicans have openly said they support Waltz’s nomination, including Senate Foreign Relations Chairman R-Idaho, John Riche.
Vice President JD Vance participated in an interview with Bret Baier, the chief political anchor at Fox News in South Carolina, where he nominated Waltz, representing the United States at the United Nations. (Fox News/Special Report)
“A great choice. America is becoming safer and stronger under President Trump and his national security team,” Riche said in the X-Post Thursday. “I thank Mike Waltz for his service as the NSA and look forward to receiving his appointment on the committee.”
Senator Lindsey Graham, Rs.C. He also posted on Friday that X would be confirmed “certainly” and “certainly”.
Vance also expressed his support for the Waltz, claiming nominations as “promotions,” pushing back the proposal that the removal of the Waltz amounted to a fire.
“Donald Trump has fired a lot of people,” Vance said in an interview with Fox News’ Brett Byer on Thursday. “He will not then give them a Senate-approved appointment. What he thinks is that Mike Waltz will serve more of the administration and, most importantly, the Americans in that role.”
Charles Creitz of Fox News contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, covering the White House.
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