President Trump’s decision to pull the nomination of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik to be ambassador to the United Nations strikes us as the better part of valor. It’s not just the slim-ness of the GOP’s margin of control in the House, though that alone, at least in our view, would justify keeping Ms. Stefanik there. It’s also that she’s one of those rare legislators who is strong on personality, principles, and policy.

Those qualities are going to be at a premium in the House as the administration gears up for what is sure to be a struggle to cut taxes and advance other legislative priorities. Mr. Trump has so far governed by Sharpie, which in our system of separated powers has its limits, as the president is learning. Exiling one of the most gifted Republican legislators to Turtle Bay would be like the Yankees trading Aaron Judge on Opening Day.

We understand that in November Mr. Trump won Ms. Stefanik’s district by some 20 points. Any complacency, though, vanished with the victory at Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, by a Democrat in a race for state senator. As recently as November, Mr. Trump won that doughty district by 16 points. Next week will feature two special elections for open House seats in Florida, presenting the possibility for even more Democratic gains. 

There can be no doubt that Ms. Stefanik would have been an exemplary ambassador to the United Nations. Her grilling of the pusillanimous presidents of top colleges in respect of antisemitism was a powerful performance that claimed the jobs of the leaders of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. As Mr. Trump puts it on Truth Social, “there are others that can do a good job” as envoy to the United Nations.

When word first arrived of Mr. Trump’s intention to nominate the upstanding upstater, these columns reasoned that “The United Nations’s hostility to America and Israel is so deeply woven into the warp and woof of the place that even Ms. Stefanik’s considerable abilities could prove ineffectual” and judged that the “better course, would be not for Ms. Stefanik to join the UN, but for America to leave it.” Ms. Stefanik grasped the state of play.

Mr. Trump vowed that Ms. Stefanik would “rejoin the House Leadership Team.” She was the fourth-ranking Republican before stepping down to prepare for her confirmation hearings. Our Matthew Rice, though, reports that the path back to the leadership ranks could be a dicey one to navigate. Ms. Stefanik wanted the UN job, and stepping aside — even if it followed a directive from the Oval Office — speaks well of her sense of duty.

Ms. Stefanik’s replacement would do well to share the congresswoman’s distrust for the institution to which she was to be sent. Our Benny Avni reports a push afoot to install, in two years’ time, the Palestinian Arab representative as the president of the General Assembly. That appears to be motivated solely by animus toward Israel, which remains uniquely singled out in every UN forum even as it fights the death cults bent on its destruction.

Speaker Johnson took to X to announce his intention to invite Ms. Stefanik “to return to the leadership table immediately.” By our lights she could one day serve as speaker herself.  Her pivot, though, is a reminder to Republicans that even after Mr. Trump’s victory the party can hardly rest on its laurels. Democratic haplessness has given the party an opportunity — but the possibility of a comeback has given Ms. Stefanik a new assignment. We’re proud of her.