State Rep. Carlos Trujillo of Miami was confirmed by the United States Senate Thursday night and now is officially the U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States. As such, he will serve as one of four deputies to former South Carolina Gov. and current U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
The House budget chairman, tapped by President Donald Trump for the position in August, was among the president's earliest supporters. He speaks fluent Spanish.
Trujillo survived the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's confirmation hearing in November with relative ease.
He is the son of Cuban immigrants, born in New York but moved to Florida at the age of five. He attended college in Alabama and later went to Florida State University College of Law. He has served in the Florida Legislature since 2010.
After Thursday's vote, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said, “As someone with a strong understanding of U.S.-Latin American relations, Carlos Trujillo is an outstanding choice to serve as U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States. Carlos has served his constituents diligently in the Florida House of Representatives over the last eight years, and I know he will do the same while representing the American people at the OAS."
The OAS is a regional organization that brings together the countries of the Americas to constitute the main governmental forum in the Hemisphere, promoting democracy, human rights, security, and development.
Trujillo told the State Department he would leave his House seat and law firm, Trujillo, Vargas, Gonzalez & Hevia, if confirmed as OAS ambassador.
A special election could be called to fill his House District 105 seat.
The bio on his firm's website says Trujillo’s practice includes litigating commercial disputes, representing homeowners in insurance litigation, and defending clients in white-collar crime. He is a former assistant state attorney.
Financial disclosure forms reveal he earned about $837,000 in his law practice and $22,000 as a Florida representative.
The ambassadorship pays a base salary of about $150,000.
“The opportunity to serve your country doesn’t come up often and I’m honored to be in consideration -- so it wasn’t a tough decision at all,” Trujillo told reporters before he was confirmed.
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