Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, voted with nearly all committee Republicans to advance former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to move to the consideration of the full Senate.

Waltz’s nomination had otherwise been blocked due to concerns from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that had left the committee vote deadlocked as of Wednesday, which would prevent the nomination from moving forward. 

Shaheen said in a statement that she maintains disagreements and concerns with Waltz, alluding to his involvement in the discussion of military plans on the unsecured messaging app Signal, but described him as a more positive voice for continued U.S. global engagement than other figures in the administration and potential alternatives.

“I recognize that Mr. Waltz represents a moderating force with a distinguished record of military service and an extensive background in national security policymaking,” Shaheen said in a statement. “Further, Mike Waltz did not represent himself to me as someone who wants to retreat from the world—and this is a quality I value in nominees.”

“Simply put, in a Situation Room filled with people like Vice President [J.D.] Vance and Under Secretary [of Defense Elbridge] Colby, who want to retreat from the world, and like Secretary [of Defense Pete] Hegseth, I think we’re better off having someone like Mike Waltz present,” Shaheen continued. “That is particularly true when you consider the alternatives to Mr. Waltz as a nominee.”

Vance and Colby are seen as leading isolationist voices in the administration, and Democrats generally view Hegseth as unqualified for his role.

“As Mr. Waltz knows, I intend to hold him accountable through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s oversight role in the months and years ahead,” Shaheen said.

Shaheen, in her statement, also said she “welcome[s] the Administration’s commitment to distribute $75 million of lifesaving assistance” — funding for Haiti and Nigeria which multiple reports have indicated was effectively a condition of her support for Waltz’s nomination.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the top Republican on the committee, told Jewish Insider that the aid package was not directly tied to Shaheen’s support for Waltz.

“It’s accurate that we had lengthy discussions [about the aid funding] but there’s no quid-pro-quo,” Risch said. “You have discussions on a lot of issues. When something gets hung up like that, everybody airs issues that they have, and that’s how it got there.”

Asked by JI whether the humanitarian aid was a condition of her vote, Shaheen responded, “I appreciated the negotiations.”