President-elect Trump nominated Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, further elevating her seismic rise in the Republican Party.

It is a major nod to the chair of the House Republican Conference — and the highest-ranking GOP woman in the lower chamber — who has been one of Trump’s fiercest defenders and supporters in recent years.

But Stefanik, a Harvard University graduate who was also considered in the running to be Trump’s running mate, has also been intensely scrutinized as her star power has grown.

Here are five things to know about Stefanik:

Underwent pro-Trump transformation

Like many other Republicans when Trump rose to power, Stefanik initially kept her distance from him, even publicly breaking with him on policies like Trump’s 2017 executive order to ban citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S.

But that rapidly changed during Trump’s first term, surprising some political observers.

By Trump’s first impeachment proceedings in 2019, Stefanik was one of Trump’s top defenders on Capitol Hill. As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, she took a combative approach and challenged its then-Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) during impeachment hearings.

That led Trump to post on social media of Stefanik: “A........

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