Mike Waltz is facing questioning from lawmakers for the first time since he was ousted as national security adviser. President Donald Trump has nominated Waltz to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is facing questioning Tuesday from lawmakers for the first time since he was ousted as national security adviser in the weeks after he mistakenly added a journalist to a private Signal chat used to discuss sensitive military plans.
The Republican former Florida congressman appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing, with Trump looking to fill his remaining Cabinet position after months of delay, including the withdrawal of the previous nominee.
The hearing is providing senators with the first opportunity to grill Waltz over revelations in March that he added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on an unclassified messaging app that was used to discuss planning for strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen.
Waltz took responsibility even as criticism mounted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared the sensitive plans in the chat that included several other high-level national security officials. Hegseth shared the same information in another Signal chat that included family, but Trump has made clear Hegseth has his support.
Waltz was removed as national security adviser in May — replaced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio — and nominated for the U.N. role.
Trump praised Waltz in the announcement, saying, “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress, and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first.”United Nations is facing major changes
If confirmed, Waltz would arrive at the U.
