Miami Republican Carlos Trujillo confirmed as U.S. ambassador to OAS

Miami Republican Rep. Carlos Trujillo was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States by the U.S. Senate on Thursday.

The White House announced Trujillo's appointment in October, just two months after President Donald Trump named him one of four U.S. representatives to the United Nations General Assembly. That job made Trujillo, an early Trump campaign supporter who attended the president's inauguration, one of U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley's four deputies.

Trujillo was ultimately approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, though he did face questioning from Democrats over a 2015 bill in the Florida Legislature that would have made it a felony for an undocumented immigrant who was previously deported, or facing a deportation order, to be in the state.

"As someone with a strong understanding of U.S.-Latin American relations, Carlos Trujillo is an outstanding choice to serve as U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States," Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said in a statement. "Carlos has served his constituents diligently in the Florida House of Representatives over the last eight years, and I know he will do the same while representing the American people at the OAS."

Rubio, an ally of Trujillo's also serves as chairman of the Latin America subcommittee in the U.S. Senate.