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Report: Nikki Haley will question why the US funds the UN during Senate hearing
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks to the media. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Report: Nikki Haley will question why the US funds the UN during Senate hearing

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for United Nations ambassador, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, will reportedly question if the funding the United States provides to the international body each year is worth it during her opening statements at her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

According to documents obtained by CNN, Haley will suggest that Congress should reconsider supporting the U.N. because the organization continually makes decisions that don't align with U.S. interests. Currently, U.S. taxpayers contribute about 22 percent of the U.N.'s annual budget.

"Are we getting what we pay for?" Haley will reportedly ask during her opening statements, according to CNN.

"The UN and its specialized agencies have had numerous successes," she is set to add. "However, any honest assessment also finds an institution that is often at odds with American national interests and American taxpayers."

During her opening statements, Haley will also make the argument that the U.N. is an anti-Semitic body that opposes Israeli statehood, citing an anti-Israeli resolution the U.N. Security Council passed last month — Resolution 2334 — that bans Israel from building settlement in land claimed by the Palestinians, specifically in East Jerusalem.

"Nowhere has the UN's failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel," Haley will say, according to CNN. "Last month's passage of UN Resolution 2334 was a terrible mistake, making a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians harder to achieve."

"[M]ore Americans are becoming convinced ... that the United Nations does more harm than good," she will say.

More from CNN:

The 45-year-old Haley is expected to be grilled about Russia's global role and human rights, issues that tripped up Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil CEO Trump tapped to be his lead US diplomat as secretary of state. Some Republicans and Democrats said they were ambivalent or flatly against Tillerson after his hearing last week and will likely return to those questions when Haley appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Haley may also face queries about the foreign policy differences between Trump and his proposed Cabinet members -- Tillerson diverged from Trump on several key issues -- support for an Asian trade deal, condemnation of Russian aggression in Ukraine, and affirmation of the reality of climate change.

While Haley doesn't have much foreign policy experience, she will argue Wednesday that her time as governor of South Carolina, and the different roles that go into making a governor successful, has prepared her to be a successful U.S. ambassador on the world stage.

According to The Hill, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham will introduce Haley on Wednesday during her hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Haley was elected governor of South Carolina in 2010 and was openly critical of Trump during the election, even exchanging a few testy tweets with the then-Republican candidate.

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