President-elect Donald Trump is picking U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, as ambassador to the United Nations. In this photo, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, left,  Stefanik, center, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana hold a news conference following a GOP caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 10, 2023. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has tapped U.S. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik for the position of United Nations ambassador, according to an exclusive his transition team provided Sunday to the New York Post.

Trump told the conservative outlet Stefanik, a New York Republican, is “an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter.”

States Newsroom reached out to both Trump’s transition team and Stefanik’s office for comment but has not received replies.

Stefanik, an enthusiastic Trump surrogate, campaigned for the president-elect and was considered among Trump’s potential vice presidential candidate picks.

Stefanik enjoyed the limelight late last year for escalating the ouster of two university presidents after she questioned them on antisemitism on college campuses.

The New York Republican introduced a resolution in June 2023 to expunge Trump’s 2019 and 2021 impeachments, but the measures, brought forth with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, did not advance. 

Stefanik was a staunch defender of Trump during his 2019 impeachment sparked by Trump’s threat to withhold aid to Ukraine unless the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy investigated President Joe Biden, then Trump’s 2020 presidential race rival.

Stefanik ascended, with Trump’s support, to the No. 3 position of GOP conference chair in 2021 after the party removed former Rep. Liz Cheney from the spot. Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, voted to impeach Trump in 2021 following his refusal to concede his loss in the 2020 presidential election, which culminated in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Stefanik holds positions on the House committees on the Armed Forces, and Education and Workforce. She also sits on the Select Committee on Intelligence.

U.S House Majority Leader Steve Scalise issued a statement Monday calling Stefanik a “fantastic choice” for the position.

“I will miss Elise, who has become a dear friend in the House as well as a respected leader as our Republican Conference Chair. She is extremely qualified for this new role in public service, and the House’s loss will be a huge gain for the Trump Administration and the country. There is nobody better to represent President Trump’s foreign policy and America’s values at the United Nations than Elise Stefanik,” the Louisiana Republican said.

Control of the House has not yet been determined as ballot counting continues for several races, but the split as of Monday stands at 214 Republicans and 203 Democrats, according to calls by The Associated Press.

Stefanik was not always a Trump loyalist and voted against the then-president’s signature tax law in 2017.