Mike Waltz faces tough Senate confirmation hearing for UN ambassador role
Former national security adviser and ex-congressman Mike Waltz is set to face a “brutal” confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday as he seeks Senate approval to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a nomination clouded by controversy.
Waltz, a retired Green Beret and three-term Republican congressman from Florida, resigned from his role as national security adviser in May following the Signal chat scandal that rocked the White House earlier this year, News.Az reports, citing ABC News.
The controversy began in March when Waltz accidentally added a journalist, The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, to an encrypted Signal chat involving Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other senior Trump officials discussing a military strike on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Goldberg later revealed that the group chat included discussion of “sequencing of events” related to the attack, which he described as a “war plan.” While Waltz, Hegseth, and others denied that classified or operational details were shared, the Pentagon’s acting Inspector General launched an investigation into Hegseth’s use of the messaging app — including a separate chat where he allegedly shared timing of the strike with his wife, brother, and attorney.
Despite the uproar, President Donald Trump nominated Waltz to the United Nations post, while temporarily naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio to fill the national security adviser role. Trump publicly defended Waltz, saying, “He has learned a lesson and is a good man.”
Waltz has taken responsibility for the incident, telling Fox News, “I take full responsibility. I built the group.”
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have signaled they won’t go easy on him. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a member of the panel, warned in May that the hearing would be “brutal.”
Waltz brings extensive experience to the table. He previously served on the House Intelligence, Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs Committees and was the first Green Beret elected to Congress. Before entering politics, he held national security policy roles in the George W. Bush administration and retired as a colonel after 27 years in the Army and National Guard.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, he was a vocal Trump surrogate on foreign and defense policy, helping shape the administration’s posture on key global issues.
As Waltz prepares to defend his record and judgment before the Senate, questions remain about his handling of sensitive information and whether his nomination represents a move toward loyalty over accountability in U.S. foreign policy.
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