Elise Stefanik

Elise Marie Stefanik ( stə-FAH-nik; born July 2, 1984) is an American politician who has served as the U . representative for New York's 21st congressional district since 2015. From 2021 to 2025, she served as chair of the House Republican Conference. Stefanik was elected as a moderate Republican but aligned herself with Donald Trump during his first term as president. Stefanik strongly opposed the first impeachment of Trump in 2019 and objected to Pennsylvania's electoral votes in the 2020 U . presidential election. Stefanik was elected chair of the House Republican Conference in May 2021 after Liz Cheney was removed from the position for her vocal opposition to Trump. In 2023, Stefanik gained national attention for her aggressive questioning of university presidents during a widely televised U . congressional hearing on antisemitism, which contributed to the resignation of Liz Magill as the president of the University of Pennsylvania. Stefanik was awarded the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Defender of Israel Award by the Zionist Organization of America. She has supported the view that Israel has a "biblical right" to the occupied West Bank. In January 2025, President Trump nominated Stefanik to serve as the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Trump withdrew the nomination in March over concerns that her departure from the House would affect the thin House Republican majority. In November 2025, Stefanik announced her candidacy in the 2026 New York gubernatorial election, but ended her campaign the following month and announced she would not run for re-election to Congress.