Former Orange County congresswoman Michelle Steel has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea.
The 70-year-old Republican must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before assuming the post.
Steel lost her 45th Congressional District seat in a razor-thin 2024 race to Democratic challenger Derek Tran.
Steel is also a former Orange County supervisor. She was born in South Korea and raised in Japan, moving to the United States when she was 19.
She represented the 48th Congressional District from 2021 to 2023, and the 45th from 2023-25. The district includes Garden Grove, Westminster, Cerritos, Buena Park, Placentia, Hawaiian Gardens, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Artesia, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor and La Palma, as well as parts of Brea, Lakewood and Fullerton.
Steel has not publicly commented on the nomination, but Orange County Republican Party Chair Will O’Neill praised the selection.
“Congresswoman Michelle Steel is a proud American patriot who has served her county, state and country for decades,” O’Neill said, according to the OC Register. “Now she has the opportunity to serve as our nation’s representative in the nation where she was born. On behalf of the Republicans throughout Orange County, we applaud this nomination from President Trump and encourage the U.S. Senate to move swiftly to confirm Rep. Steel.”