Senate confirms UN ambassador
WASHINGTON — After seven months without a permanent U.S. representative to the United Nations and at a time of increasing turbulence in global affairs, the Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed a new ambassador, a Republican Party fundraiser whose thin diplomatic resume has come under harsh criticism from Democrats.
The confirmation vote, 56-34, of Kelly Knight Craft, who currently is U.S. ambassador to Canada, came hours after Senate Foreign Relations Democrats published a report that harshly criticized her suitability for the role. The report asserted she was “unknowledgeable” about basic U.S. foreign policy issues and likely to be “outmatched” by her U.N. counterparts from Russia and China. It also lambasted her long record of unexplained absences during her time as envoy in Ottawa.
“During her limited diplomatic tenure, her unacceptable absences in Canada were nothing less than a dereliction of duty,” Foreign Relations ranking member Robert Menendez said in a statement. “Never in our nation’s history have we nominated such an underqualified person to this critical post.”
Craft spent nearly 60% of her time as ambassador outside Canada, which amounted to 357 days, according to the report.
Though Republicans defended much of that away time as being related to her role as part of the U.S. negotiating team for the U.S.Mexico-Canada trade agreement, Democrats said only 40 of her travel days were related to trade meetings. Rather, she spent seven months in Kentucky or Oklahoma, where she and her billionaire husband, Joe Craft, have homes. The Democrats also noted she spent at least 29 days staying at the Trump International Hotel during her trips to Washington.
The eight-page report was compiled from news reports, travel records (including flight logs), calendars, Craft’s testimony to the committee and other official documents Menendez requested and received.
Democrats criticized Craft for a weak Senate Foreign Relations confirmation performance.
“When asked about the most pressing issues the U.N. faces and how the United States can leverage the U.N. to pursue our national foreign policy priorities, Ambassador Craft did not mention the major crises or complexities facing the United States today,” the report states. “When asked about the two-state solution, which has been the cornerstone of U.S. policy concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for years, she could not articulate a coherent or succinct viewpoint.”
Prior to her confirmation as ambassador to Ottawa, Craft ran a small marketing firm, Kelly G. Knight LLC, and served for one session as an alternate U.S. delegate to the United Nations, a largely ceremonial position.