Longtime Trump Advisor Floats Run For Congress

As New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik prepares for her new position within the incoming Trump administration where she’ll serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, it’s being reported that one of President-elect Donald Trump’s senior advisers is considering running for Congress as her replacement in the 21st District.

“I wonder if heads would explode if I moved just a little bit north and ran in the Special Election for Elise Stefanik’s seat in #NY21,” Dan Scavino, a longtime adviser to Trump since 2016, wrote on TRUTH Social.

BREAKING: Senior Trump adviser Dan Scavino considers running for Congress in New York's 21st District to replace outgoing Elise Stefanik.

Scavino is one of several deputy chiefs of staff for President Trump. pic.twitter.com/pZZqYNR0wN

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 22, 2024

According to a report from Fox News, while Stefanik was courting approval from Trump as the nominee for the ambassador position, she met with 10 senators during the first two days of meetings. Stefanik, the House GOP chair, spoke with the senators about her support for Israel and her dedication to battling antisemitism, hoping to convince them to approve her nomination to the position.

Kicking off the road to confirmation, Stefanik met with Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., MarkWayne Mullin, R-Okla., Jim Banks, R-Ind., Tim Scott, R-S.C., Shelley Capito, R-W.Va., on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, Stefanik, the fourth-highest ranking House member, met with Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mt., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and John Barasso, R-Wyo. Stefanik posted photos of her meeting with each senator on X, saying their discussions centered around standing with Israel, combating antisemitism and supporting Trump’s “America First peace through strength national security policies.”

Outgoing Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell put out a statement saying that “the world’s largest international organization is in dire need of a wake-up call, and Representative Stefanik is uniquely well-suited to deliver it.”

“In a forum corrupted by authoritarians where cowardly majorities hector the embattled Jewish state of Israel, the next U.S. Ambassador must speak with uncompromising moral clarity,” McConnell went on to say. “I am particularly encouraged that the President-elect’s nominee shares my commitment to holding UNRWA accountable for its role in the horrors of October 7th and keeping U.S. taxpayer dollars clear of such vile complicity.”

“I look forward to the Senate’s timely consideration of Representative Stefanik’s nomination. I hope and expect she will be a proud proponent of an American foreign policy based on peace through strength,” the statement continued.

These meetings were taking place around the same time that the International Criminal Court put out arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged “crimes against humanity and war crimes.” The charges include the use of starvation as a weapon of war and for allegedly targeting civilians.

President Joe Biden was not pleased with the ICC’s action, calling it “outrageous.” The Pentagon responded by “fundamentally rejecting” the decision, which they say “does not have jurisdiction over the matter.”

“Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas,” Biden stated concerning the warrants.

“Last month, Stefanik demanded a “complete reassessment” of U.S. funding for the United Nations and called to stop financial backing for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA),” the report concluded.