Trump taps Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt as Saudi Arabia ambassador

The Republican congressman was already slated to leave the House in January after losing the GOP’s Senate primary in Texas.WASHINGTON (CN) — Outgoing Texas Representative Wesley Hunt is President Donald Trump’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the White House announced Monday.It’s a move that would keep Hunt, 44, close to the president just months before he’s expected to leave Congress following an ill-fated run for U.S. Senate — and would put him in an important position as the administration looks to deepen its cooperation with the kingdom and its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Hunt’s nomination as ambassador to Saudi Arabia was formally transmitted to the Senate on Monday afternoon, the White House said in a press release. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tasked with considering the president’s ambassadorships, will likely hold a hearing with the congressman. As of Monday afternoon, a date for such a meeting had yet to be set.First elected to represent Texas’ 38th congressional district in 2022, Hunt this year mounted an outsider primary challenge to Senator John Cornyn, joining Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an effort to unseat the lawmaker who had long drawn Trump’s ire. But the congressman placed a distant third in the primary, capturing just around 14% of the vote.Hunt ultimately endorsed Paxton, who went on to defeat Cornyn in a runoff election. The congressman was expected to leave Capitol Hill after November’s midterm elections.During his tenure in Congress, Hunt was a staunch supporter of Trump and his agenda. Following the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling in the case Louisiana v. Callais concerning congressional redistricting, he pushed back on criticism that the decision affirmed racial gerrymandering and gutted the Voting Rights Act.“Jim Crow is dead,” Hunt said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in May. “I am a Black man that is representing a white majority district in Texas.”And last month, Hunt spearheaded an amendment to the House’s annual defense policy legislation allowing the Department of Defense to seize state land in California to ensure construction of a contested crude oil pipeline project.Hunt was no stranger to controversy during his time on Capitol Hill, either. He drew criticism during the Texas primary season for his scant attendance in the House — he was statistically the most absent member of Congress in the 119th session, missing roughly 26% of votes as of July.Hunt has long justified his absence by pointing out that he was running for Senate and that a campaign for higher office forced him to miss votes.The congressman also came under scrutiny following reports that he hosted “manosphere” influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate on Capitol Hill just days before they were arrested on a laundry list of trafficking and sexual exploitation charges. The Daily Mail published images of the Tate brothers, who were extradited to the United Kingdom, posing with Hunt, apparently in his Capitol office.Hunt declined to comment at the time about his meeting with the Tates. The two brothers are facing nearly 40 criminal charges, including rape, assault, child pornography and human trafficking.A spokesperson for the congressman’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on his nomination as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia.If confirmed, Hunt would represent Washington’s interests in the kingdom at a time when the Trump administration is cultivating a close relationship with the country and its leadership. The president in July signed a 30-year commercial nuclear energy deal with Saudi Arabia that would give U.S. nuclear companies a leg up in the country’s developing nuclear power program.Members of Congress, who must approve the agreement by next month, have expressed concern that it does not adequately block Riyadh from enriching uranium which could potentially be used in nuclear weapons.Meanwhile, Saudi Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman has urged Trump in recent days to use military force to repel Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. The Houthis, who have clashed with Saudi and U.S. forces in the past, seized a crucial port on the Yemeni coastline last week which could threaten oil shipments in the region.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads