Duckworth on Waltz U.N. ambassador nod
Washington — President Trump's nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, is expected to appear before senators next week for his confirmation hearing, a source familiar with the schedule confirmed to CBS News.
Waltz left Congress to become Mr. Trump's national security adviser, a post he vacated in May after he came under scrutiny for his role in putting together a Signal chat in which a journalist was mistakenly included. In the chat, Trump's top national security officials discussed sensitive plans for a military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Axios first reported the hearing's timing.
In nominating Waltz, Mr. Trump withdrew his first choice for the position, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, whom he asked to remain in Congress, where she could help advance his legislative agenda amid a tight GOP majority.
Waltz is likely to face combative questioning from Democrats on the the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over the Signal controversy. The hearing also follows Mr. Trump's recent decision to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois said in May that she expected the confirmation hearing to be "brutal" for Waltz.
"He's not qualified for the job, just by nature of the fact that he participated in this Signal chain," Duckworth, a member of the committee, said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."
Waltz did not require Senate confirmation to serve as Mr. Trump's national security adviser.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
