Nominee for US deputy ambassador to UN calls for reforms at 'ineffective' global body

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations urged “bold reform” of what she called the “bloated, unfocused and ineffective” global organization during her confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Tammy Bruce told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United Nations has lost the confidence of the American people and it’s time for its 193 member nations to return to its founding mission — to maintain international peace and security.

“I believe the U.N. is important and must be revitalized so it can continue to serve the people of the United States and the people of the world,” the former State Department spokesperson said.

Bruce, a former Fox News Channel contributor, said countries working together can facilitate peace as the U.N. Security Council did this week in endorsing Trump’s plan for Gaza following two years of war.

Sen. James Risch, the committee chairman, said he is “no fan” of the U.N. and asked Bruce how she could help “course correct the U.N. from the horrible antisemitic course it is on” if confirmed.

Bruce said the Trump administration cannot and will not support “the proliferation of divisive concepts like DEI and gender ideology as well as a continuation of hateful anti-Israel bias.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat, said the U.S. failure to pay its U.N. dues in full “is weakening peacekeeping when global stability is already under strain” and asked Bruce how she would address this risk to American interests if confirmed.

Bruce said she is committed “to ensuring U.S. funding to the U.N. advances policies and priorities that strictly add value to American taxpayers and American foreign policy interests.”

Trump appointed Bruce as deputy representative to the U.N. in August after roughly six months at the State Department. She has been working at the U.S. mission to the U.N. as a public delegate and will replace deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea, a career diplomat, if confirmed by the Senate.