Haley first woman in Trump’s Cabinet Trump to get confirmed.
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South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was confirmed as the US Ambassador to the United Nations, on Tuesday.
The Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of confirmation, with just four senators — Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democrats Chris Coons of Delaware and Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico — voting against her, reported NBC News.
It was a quick confirmation, and a striking reversal in fortune for a woman who loudly criticized Trump during the GOP primary and endorsed one of his rivals, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
The two-term governor faced questions from Democrats over her lack of experience with global affairs but won plaudits from senators for her handling of prickly issues like Russia and UN actions toward Israel during her confirmation hearings. She’s the first woman to be confirmed to Trump’s cabinet, but likely not the last; on Tuesday Elaine Chao’s nomination as Transportation Secretary was passed out of committee, as well.
Unlike Trump’s secretary of state pick, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, Haley broke with Trump and repeatedly criticized Russia during her confirmation hearing, NBC News reported.
“Russia is trying to show their muscle right now. It’s what they do,” she said. She added: “I don’t think we can trust them. We have to continue to be very strong back, and show them what this new administration is going to be.”
She also said she wouldn’t support one of Trump’s major campaign proposals — to create a registry of Muslims in the U.S. and a ban on Muslim immigration and travel — but suggested the administration’s views had changed on the issue.
And Haley said during her hearing she would speak up to Trump in favor of the NATO military alliance and the UN, both of which Trump has criticized and toyed with the idea of abandoning.
But on Israel, she was fully in line with Trump, telling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she “absolutely” supports his promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a controversial move as both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their territory.
She also spoke out against the Obama administration’s decision to abstain from a vote on a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s settlements.