WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump has made two more key appointments ahead of his return to the White House in January.
Tom Homan, 62, will serve as Trump’s “border tsar”, having previously served as the returning president acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, 40, has also been made ambassador to the United Nations, according to statements given to the New York Post.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Republican Party are edging closer to full control of the US Congress. They already have a majority in the Senate and need to win just a handful of seats to take the House of Representatives.
A party needs 218 seats to win a House majority. The Republicans have 215 compared to the rival Democrats’ 210, according to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.
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Control of the House gives a party the power to initiate spending legislation and launch impeachment proceedings against officials.
A majority in the House, the lower chamber of Congress, alongside the Senate, the upper chamber, would give Trump a greater chance of getting his plans approved than if Democrats controlled one or both.
Who is Tom Homan?
Trump has confirmed that Homan will have a wide-ranging role overseeing border security and deportation policy – two of his two campaign issues.
Homan, a former police officer, also played an important role in Trump’s first presidency as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
He resigned in 2018 but remained a proponent of Trump’s hard-line approach. He supported separating migrant children from their parents as a means to deter illegal crossings, and has said politicians who support migrant sanctuary policies should be charged with crimes.
Homan is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation – a conservative think-tank that published the Project 2025 document, which set out a “wish list” for a second Trump presidency. Trump has distanced himself from the organisation.
Who is Elise Stefanik?
Stefanik became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in 2014, then aged 30. She continues to represent New York’s 21st District.
After entering politics, the fourth-ranking House Republican initially positioned herself as a moderate and criticised Trump – but later became his loyal defender.
In his statement to the New York Post, Trump described her as “an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter”.
The UN ambassador role is crucial to global cooperation and security, and Stefanik’s nomination comes as conflicts continue to rage in Ukraine and the Middle East.
