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Waltz Testifies at the Senate Foreign Relations Hearing on Reforming the UN, Apr. 15, 2026

April 15, 2026 · CBS News · 2:00:06

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What happened

Ambassador Mike Waltz testified on April 15, 2026, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at its hearing “Reforming the UN: Assessing U.S. Efforts and Priorities,” alongside Jeff Bartos, the U.S. Representative to the United Nations for Management and Reform, according to the committee. CBS News carried the hearing in full.

In his testimony, Waltz said the administration is pressing Secretary-General Guterres and leadership across the U.N. system “to streamline bureaucracy, eliminate duplication, and bring more accountability to a more focused, more effective United Nations,” and that the basic test set at the founding still applies: “the UN has to work for Americans.” He told senators that when he pushes the Secretariat on efficiency, he tells them the United States Senate and its constituents are watching closely, according to his submitted testimony. Questioned by Senator Mike Lee on whether the United States materially benefits from U.N. engagement at all, Waltz answered, “If we didn’t invent it, someone else would,” pointing to the U.N. system’s role in aviation safety, spectrum, space and telecommunications standards, according to the Better World Campaign’s account of the hearing. Waltz also answered questions on the administration’s approach to military operations against Iran and to peace talks, according to C-SPAN’s description of the hearing.

Why it matters

This is Waltz’s fullest oversight accounting of his reform program: the streamlining and accountability agenda, the “work for Americans” test, and his defense of continued U.S. engagement — fighting inside the institution rather than leaving it — stated to the committee that confirmed him.

Scoreboard watch

This is a candidate item for the weekly scoreboard: Waltz’s April 15, 2026 reform commitments — bureaucracy streamlining, duplication elimination, and accountability measures at the United Nations — each as stated at the hearing, to be checked against subsequent U.N. and U.S. Mission actions.

Sources: Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, “Reforming the UN: Assessing U.S. Efforts and Priorities,” April 15, 2026 (full hearing as carried by CBS News, embedded above); Ambassador Waltz’s testimony as submitted to the committee; C-SPAN hearing description; Better World Campaign account of the hearing. All figures and characterizations as stated by Ambassador Waltz and committee members at the hearing.