Mike Waltz to face grilling over Signal chat at Senate hearing for UN
role
[July 15, 2025]
By FARNOUSH AMIRI
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump's nominee for
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will face questioning from
lawmakers Tuesday 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 former Republican congressman is set to appear 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 will provide 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.”

The United Nations is facing major changes
If confirmed, Waltz would be coming to the U.N. at a moment of great
change. The world body is reeling from Trump's decision to slash foreign
assistance — affecting its humanitarian aid agencies — and it
anticipates U.S. funding cuts to the U.N. annual budget.
Under an “America First” foreign policy realignment, the White House has
asserted that "some of the U.N.’s agencies and bodies have drifted” from
their founding mission and “act contrary to the interests of the United
States while attacking our allies and propagating anti-Semitism.”
With America being the largest United Nations donor, cutting U.S.
funding to the U.N. budget would greatly impair operations.
Facing financial instability, the U.N. has spent months shedding jobs
and consolidating projects while beginning to tackle long-delayed
reforms. The U.N. is also facing growing frustration over what critics
describe as a lack of efficiency and power in delivering on its mandate
to end conflict and prevent wars.
John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. who was also national
security adviser during Trump’s first term, was critical of the current
state of the U.N.
“It’s probably in the worst shape it’s been in since it was founded,”
Bolton, now an outspoken Trump critic, recently told The Associated
Press.
Waltz has been meeting with senators
Waltz spent the last several weeks meeting with Democrats and
Republicans on the Foreign Affairs committee.
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White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz listens to a
question from a reporter in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at
the White House in Washington, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex
Brandon, File)

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth said Monday that she and Waltz
discussed a wide range of issues, including whether the Trump
administration would use the U.N. to strengthen alliances and combat
Chinese influence.
“I asked him questions about ‘Signalgate,’ but I also talked to him
about how we are going to sway other nations within the United
Nations to our side, in light of how much influence the PRC is
having on other nations,” the Illinois senator said, using an
acronym for the People's Republic of China.
Even with Democratic opposition, Waltz only needs a majority in the
53-47 Senate, which Republicans control.
“He’ll be fine. Mike won’t have any issues,” said Sen. Markwayne
Mullin, R-Okla. “I mean, the Democrats are gonna do their thing.
Whatever. Mike’s used to taking incoming fire.”
It is unclear how Waltz would approach the job. Trump's first
nominee, Rep. Elise Stefanik, had built a track record in Congress
of criticizing the U.N. She vowed during her confirmation hearing in
January to combat what she called antisemitism at the world body and
lead a review of U.S. funding.
She was expected to be confirmed, but Trump abruptly withdrew her
nomination in March, citing risks to the GOP's historically slim
House majority.
At the time, the loss of a mere handful of seats could have swung
the House majority to Democrats and derailed their recently
successful efforts to enact Trump’s sweeping agenda.
Waltz is still on the White House payroll
Waltz, whose Florida House seat was filled during a special election
earlier this year, has spent the last few months on the White House
payroll despite being removed as national security adviser. The
latest list of White House salaries, current as of July 1, includes
Waltz earning an annual salary of $195,200.
A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss personnel
matters, said Waltz stayed on to “ensure a smooth and successful
transition given the extreme importance of the role of NSA.”
Waltz was the first Green Beret elected to the House and easily won
reelection for a fourth term in November before Trump asked him to
join the administration.
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Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Matt Brown in Washington
contributed to this report.
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