US senate confirms Thomas-Greenfield's nomination as UN ambassador

The Senate on Tuesday (local time) confirmed US President Joe Biden's nominee, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, as US ambassador to the United Nations.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield is an over three-decade veteran of the State Department and a diplomat with vast experience in Africa.

According to The Hill, the Senate voted 78-20 to confirm Thomas-Greenfield, moving forward on filling out the President's Cabinet in his over one month into office.

Meanwhile, Thomas-Greenfield is the eighth official confirmed to join Biden's Cabinet, putting in place a key envoy as part of the President's push to bring the US back to the world stage and multilateral institutions.

"She's exceptionally qualified, and that was reflected in the bipartisan support she received from the Foreign Relations committee," The Hill quoted Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer as saying on Monday (local time), in remarks ahead of her confirmation vote.

"She will have no time to waste in rebuilding America's reputation and reasserting the first instrument of American power, diplomacy," he added.

Her appointment comes as the Biden administration has already taken steps to reassert the US position within the United Nations by reversing policy decisions under the Trump administration that either terminated or abandoned American participation in specific programs, according to The Hill.

Thomas-Greenfield heads to the United Nations as the US is also rallying allies to push back against the military coup in Myanmar and amid the Biden administration's renewed push for diplomacy to resolve the civil war in Yemen which has become a devastating humtarian crisis.

Her biggest task will be asserting American leadership and uniting allies to confront China's influence and ambitions at the global body that experts say is aimed at rewriting the international rules in favour of Beijing's worldview, The Hill reported.

( With inputs from ANI )