It has been two weeks since the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to advance Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has yet to begin Senate floor proceedings on her confirmation. 

Despite being nominated to a key foreign policy role, Stefanik isn’t high up on the list of Cabinet nominees slated to be confirmed, and there doesn’t appear to be a clear timeline for when her nomination will receive floor consideration, a situation that’s beginning to frustrate some Senate Republicans.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told Jewish Insider last week that the Senate is working with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on timing for Stefanik’s nomination.

“I’m ready to go with her,” Barrasso said. “That would take the numbers out of the House down one, so we’re going to make sure that we’ll time it appropriately.”

He noted that when Stefanik’s nomination does come up, it will be able to move quickly.

“Speaker Johnson has said that timing for Rep. Stefanik’s confirmation is a matter for the White House and the Senate to resolve and that he will be supportive of their approach,” a Johnson spokesperson told JI.

Two sources familiar with the matter told Jewish Insider that the situation is aggravating Republican senators, who want to confirm higher-profile nominees, especially those with bipartisan support, sooner rather than later.

“It’s really dumb to not send her [Stefanik] over to us so we can vote [on her nomination],” one senator said. “It was a dumb idea in the first place to go with all these House members when they didn’t have the numbers on that side. It’s slowing us down over here.”

The senator said the situation had the potential to become “really bad” if there wasn’t a timeline for her confirmation process.

The vacancies left by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, a former Florida congressman, and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) will not be filled until after the April 1 special elections in Florida.

House Republicans maintain a fragile 218-215 majority, and can only afford to lose one Republican on any party-line vote. That makes it difficult for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to part with another one of his members. Stefanik has remained an active member of the House while going through her confirmation process.

The Albany Times Union reported on Monday that a source briefed on Stefanik’s confirmation process said that the Senate could hold off on voting to confirm her until after the vacancies left by Gaetz and Waltz were filled.

Senate leadership has remained engaged with their House counterparts on the matter, though a solution has not been reached as of yet. Senators say they understand Johnson’s situation in the House, but want to move Stefanik’s nomination along. A source close to Thune told JI that he “remains committed to getting Stefanik a floor vote as soon as possible.”

“It’s just about her position in the House. They simply can’t afford to lose her until they get some of the other seats back. It doesn’t seem like there are other problems here,” one GOP senator told JI. 

Prolonging Stefanik’s confirmation delays the process of filling the vacancy she’s creating to take on the U.N. position. 

After Stefanik is confirmed as U.N. ambassador, as she’s expected to be once she receives a vote, and resigns from her House seat, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will have 10 days to schedule a special election, which state law currently dictates must take place within three months of the lawmaker’s departure.