The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday unleashed a scathing attack on President Trump’s pick to serve as US ambassador to the UN.
Kelly Craft, currently ambassador to Canada, was guilty of “rampant and inexcusable absenteeism” and “conflicts of interest” during her tenure north of the border, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez said in a seven-page minority report.
“I encourage my colleagues to oppose Ambassador Craft’s nomination because she doesn’t have the necessary experience to stand up for American values and promote our national security, and because during her limited diplomatic tenure, her unacceptable absences in Canada were nothing less than a dereliction of duty,” Menendez said in a statement.
“Never in our nation’s history have we nominated such an underqualified person to this critical post.”
The committee last week backed Craft in a 15-7 vote.
She is a top Republican donor from Kentucky who was criticized by Democrats for spending much of her time leading the embassy in Ottawa from her homes in Kentucky and Oklahoma rather than in Canada.
Before she was confirmed to serve as ambassador to Canada, her professional experience was running a small marketing consulting firm, and her only prior foreign policy experience was serving for one session as an alternate US delegate to the UN, a largely ceremonial role, the report said.
Craft, the report said, spent 357 days out of Canada — more than 58 percent of her time in the post.
Despite Craft’s testimony that her travel was due to trade negotiations, only 40 days were because of meetings to discuss the proposed United States-Mexico and Canada Agreement, while she spent 210 days in Kentucky and Oklahoma, where she and her husband own homes.
When in DC, Craft also stayed at the Trump International Hotel for at least 29 days.
She has also declined to recuse herself from energy-related issues despite her husband Joe Craft’s work for the coal industry seeking regulatory relief from the EPA and Team Trump.
Trump’s first UN ambassador, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, left the job in late 2018.
Craft must still be confirmed by the full Senate and a date for that vote has not been announced.