Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said former national security adviser Mike Waltz will face a “brutal, brutal” confirmation hearing to be the next United Nations ambassador.
“It will be a brutal, brutal hearing,” Duckworth said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “He’s not qualified for the job, just by nature of the fact that he participated in this Signal chain.”
Waltz became mired in one of the signature scandals of President Trump’s first 100 days in office when he accidentally invited The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, into a Signal group chat with other senior officials. He also reportedly clashed with chief of staff Susie Wiles and others inside and outside the administration who saw him as too hawkish and not loyal enough to the president’s “America First” movement.
Waltz faced sharp criticism from Democrats over the scandal — as did Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared details about pending strikes on Houthi rebels with the group — but President Trump defended him.
Trump over the weekend pushed back on questions about Waltz “resigning,” and both he and Vice President Vance have suggested the U.N. post is simply a better fit for the former Army officer.
After reports circulated that Waltz was ousted from the national security role, Trump announced he would be the next U.N. nominee after it was pulled from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to preserve the GOP majority in the House.
Unlike the national security role, U.N. ambassador is a Senate-confirmed Cabinet post.
Duckworth said Waltz was “failing up” and said she would not be voting in favor of making him the U.N. ambassador because he had shown he’s “incapable” of handling classified information.
“He is failing in his job and getting promoted to be ambassador,” she said. “That’s not what our nation needs at the United Nations. This is a very perilous time for our national security.”
Other Democrats have echoed Duckworth’s assessment heading into what promises to be a contentious confirmation process.
“I think it would be a brutal confirmation hearing,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Warner added that Waltz has “at least acknowledged” there was wrongdoing in using the Signal group chat to discuss attack plans.
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