Senate panel advances Hoekstra nomination as US ambassador to Canada

Grant Schwab, The Detroit News on Mar 27, 2025

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WASHINGTON — A U.S. Senate panel voted Thursday to advance the nomination of former Michigan U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra to become the United States' ambassador to Canada.

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations voted 14-8 to move forward the nomination for consideration before the full chamber. All 12 Republicans on the committee voted for Hoekstra with two Democrats, New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Virginia U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, joining them. Hoesktra will still need to be confirmed by the full U.S. Senate.

The vote came during heightened tensions between Canada and the United States. Those tensions escalated further Wednesday when U.S. President Donald Trump announced the levy of 25% tariffs on all foreign motor vehicles and auto parts — a key economic sector that had undergone decades of integration between the two allied nations.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the tariffs a "direct attack" on his country and its union workers during a Wednesday press conference.

Carney also mentioned the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit to Ontario, calling it a "bridge that is a symbol and a reality, up until now, of the tight ties between our two countries — ties of kinship, ties of commerce, ties that are in the process of being broken."

Hoekstra, 71, has an extensive background in holding elected and appointed political offices. He is a former nine-term Republican congressman from west Michigan who served in the U.S. House from 1993 to 2011, chairing the House intelligence committee. He also served as Trump's ambassador to the Netherlands during the president's first term and, most recently, as chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

"My home state is connected to Canada by four and soon to be five, bridge crossings along a maritime border, across the Great Lakes, vital lakes that drive businesses, jobs and livelihood in both states," Hoekstra said during a confirmation hearing on March 13. His comment referenced the Gordie Howe International Bridge set to open later this year between Detroit and Windsor.

"If confirmed, I will work tirelessly to build on that record of cooperation extended, obviously nationally," Hoekstra added. "I think there's 36 states that see Canada as their No. 1 trading partner internationally."

He also told the committee that he could not control the president's public remarks that Canada should become America's 51st state.

"Canada is a sovereign state, yes," Hoekstra said. "How the president and the relationship between the former prime minister in Canada — the characteristics and nature of that relationship — I don't know."

Hours later, Trump — in an episode highlighting potential difficulties for Hoekstra as the U.S. representative in Ottawa — went against his nominee's remarks about Canadian sovereignty. He told reporters in the Oval Office that "Canada only works as a (U.S.) state."

“We don’t need their cars, we don't need their energy, we don’t need their lumber," Trump said. “We don’t need anything they have."

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