Rep. Elise Stefanik said Wednesday she will rejoin the House Republican leadership, albeit at a lower rung, after being forced to abandon her nomination as ambassador to the United Nations.
Stefanik previously served as GOP conference chair, the No. 4 leadership position, before abandoning the post when Donald Trump tapped her last year as president-elect for the U.N. Her nomination was pulled in late March to help pad the House GOP’s thin majority. Speaker Mike Johnson quickly promised her a role back in leadership, though not in her old position, which Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) now holds.
The new post, Stefanik said in a statement, is “Chairwoman of House Republican Leadership” — where she will “lead House Republicans in implementing President Donald Trump’s mandate from the American people for an America First agenda that includes securing our borders, strengthening our national security, growing our economy, and combating the scourge of antisemitism across our country.”
The new position will focus on strategy and communications, and she will also serve on the powerful GOP Steering Committee, according to the statement. She compared the role to previous unelected but influential leadership positions, such as the post former Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) recently held as chair of GOP’s Elected Leadership Committee under Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Stefanik also said she will be returning to the Intelligence, Armed Services and Education and Workforce committees, in addition to being appointed to the boards of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. She will keep her seniority on the Intelligence Committee, she said.
