US Senate confirms Nikki Haley for UN ambassador

The US Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to confirm South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as ambassador to the United Nations, as Republican President Donald Trump rounds out his national security team.

Ninety-six senators backed Haley, and four opposed her.

The only "no" votes came from three Democratic senators, Tom Udall, Chris Coons and Martin Heinrich, and Bernie Sanders, the independent left-wing challenger for the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee who caucuses with Democrats.

While most lawmakers praised Haley, 45, a few expressed concerns about her lack of foreign policy experience. She has only ever held office in South Carolina.

"The position of US ambassador to the United Nations requires a high level of expertise on international affairs, not someone who will be learning on the job," Coons said.

As UN ambassador, Haley will wield enormous powers over affairs affecting the Middle East.

Haley originally backed Marco Rubio, a Senator from Florida, during the Republican presidential primary and has voiced stern opposition to Trump’s proposed Muslim ban, which he repeatedly called for during the campaign.

“It’s just an embarrassment to the Republican Party,” Haley said in December 2015. “It’s absolutely un-American. It’s unconstitutional. It defies everything this country was based on, and it’s just wrong.”

Opposed Iran deal, BDS

But she has expressed opposition to the Iran nuclear deal signed by former President Barack Obama. When the agreement was implemented, she signed a letter with 14 other Republican governors against it.

“The people of our states will not be safer as a result of this agreement, much less citizens of countries like Israel which Iran has threatened to destroy,” the letter read. “Many of our states have divestment policies for state-run pension funds and other state investments, as well as restrictions against state contractors being invested in or doing business with the government of Iran.”

And as governor, she signed a bill into law that prohibited the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

While the law does not mention Israel specifically, it was designed to outlaw the “boycott of a person or an entity based in or doing business with a jurisdiction with whom South Carolina can enjoy open trade”.

Haley was easily approved earlier on Tuesday in the 21-member Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Only two Democratic committee members, Coons and Udall, objected to her then.