The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14-8 Thursday to advance Michelle Steel's nomination as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, sending the former Orange County congresswoman one step closer to a post in the country where she was born.
From Seoul to OC and back
Steel was born in Seoul in 1955, immigrated to the United States, and spent decades building a career in California politics — the State Board of Equalization, the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and four years in Congress representing first the 48th and then the 45th congressional district. She lost her seat in November 2024 to Democrat Derek Tran in one of the closest congressional races in the country — 50.1% to 49.9%, a margin of 653 votes out of more than 315,000 cast.
President Trump nominated Steel for the ambassadorship on April 13, 2026. Thursday's 14-8 committee vote sends her nomination to the full Senate.
What she brings to the role
Steel speaks Korean, Japanese, and English — a background that matters in a posting where the working relationships run through Seoul, Tokyo, and the broader Indo-Pacific. She served on the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, giving her direct exposure to the security and economic pressures that shape U.S. policy on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea is one of the United States' most important treaty allies. The U.S. has maintained a significant military presence there since the Korean War armistice, and the alliance sits at the center of American strategy in a region that includes North Korea's nuclear program, Chinese regional ambitions, and a Japan-South Korea relationship that has historically required careful American management.
OC roots, Seoul destination
Steel represented the heart of Orange County's Korean American community during her time in Congress. Her district included portions of Westminster, Garden Grove, and Fountain Valley. She and her husband Shawn Steel — the Republican National Committeeman from California — live in Seal Beach.
The ambassadorship would make her the official U.S. representative to the country she left more than 60 years ago. For the Korean American community in Orange County, it lands as a full-circle moment — one of their own, going back as the face of American diplomacy in Seoul.
The man who took her congressional seat, Rep. Derek Tran, is now facing his own reelection challenge in 2026. Steel, meanwhile, appears headed for confirmation.
Full Senate action is expected in the coming weeks.