Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is holding up the nomination of Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, placing President Donald J. Trump’s pick for the key diplomatic post in uncertain territory — and once again making waves in Washington over questions of executive war powers and Fauci-era accountability.

Waltz, a decorated Green Beret and one of the most vocal defenders of Trump’s America First foreign policy, saw his confirmation vote before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee abruptly postponed this week after Paul expressed procedural objections.

“Mike Waltz is incredibly qualified to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations, and he has demonstrated his commitment to President Trump’s America First foreign policy agenda,” said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly, urging the Senate to “quickly confirm him.”

Paul, a staunch constitutionalist, took issue with Waltz’s past House vote urging President Trump to maintain a troop presence of 8,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan — a position Waltz shared with Liz Cheney and other interventionists at the time.

“The idea that Congress should be involved with declaring war is sort of passé. It’s old-fashioned. But when it comes to ending a war, you voted with Liz Cheney and the others to say that the president couldn’t end the war,” Paul told Waltz during a heated confirmation exchange last week.

According to sources who spoke to Axios, Paul informed committee chair Jim Risch that he would allow Waltz’s nomination to proceed, but only “without recommendation” — a procedural move that would permit a floor vote but without the committee’s formal endorsement.

Risch, hoping to secure a more favorable outcome for Trump’s nominee, opted to delay the vote for now. The committee is currently in recess.

Paul’s office told Axios:

“They pulled it for now, we’re going to see what happens over the next week.”

Insiders say Republicans remain optimistic Paul might reverse his stance — or that at least one Democrat could cross the aisle to send Waltz’s nomination to the full Senate, where the GOP holds momentum.

However, Democrats are reportedly rattled by the prospect of Waltz being replaced with another Trump loyalist — most notably Richard Grenell, the former ambassador to Germany and acting DNI, whose unapologetic conservatism has made him a lightning rod for the progressive foreign policy establishment.

Meanwhile, Sen. Paul is simultaneously ramping up pressure on the Biden administration, following explosive reports that Dr. Anthony Fauci may have been granted a presidential pardon via autopen — a mechanical signature process — without Joe Biden’s direct approval.

“In July 2023, I referred Dr. Anthony Fauci to the Department of Justice for lying under oath to Congress. His own emails directly contradicted his sworn testimony,” Paul stated in a press release this week.

“The New York Times reports Fauci was quietly pardoned by an autopen, operated by Biden’s staff. If the President didn’t authorize this pardon personally, then the Department has a duty to investigate and prosecute as it would any ordinary citizen,” Paul continued. “Fauci has been sainted by the extremist Left, but it doesn’t erase his lying before Congress.”

The same press release notes that Biden’s staff reportedly altered clemency documents and pushed through pardons without the president’s documented review, raising serious legal and constitutional concerns over the use of executive power.

The revelations further inflame growing skepticism about Biden’s cognitive condition and the legitimacy of major policy decisions issued from his White House.