Earlier, Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a report outlining the case for the Senate to reject Craft’s nomination because she was unqualified and had potential conflicts of interest.
As US Envoy to Canada, Craft was involved in President Donald Trump’s negotiations with Ottawa to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Craft previously served as a US delegate to the UN in 2007 under President George W. Bush. Her husband, billionaire Joseph Craft, is the CEO of coal giant Alliance Resource Partners, a company that has complained about global climate change mechanisms - including the 2016 Paris Accord.
The Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called earlier on the Senate to reject Kelly Craft’s nomination, stressing that prior to Craft’s confirmation to serve as the US Ambassador to Canada, her professional experience included only running a consulting firm and serving as an alternate delegate to the United Nations, which is mostly a "ceremonial" role.
The Democrats also claimed that Craft did not demonstrate confidence that she had undertaken all necessary measures to prevent potential conflicts of interests involving her spouse Joseph Craft.
