WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate on Friday voted to confirm Mike Waltz, a former White House national security adviser, to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, filling the eight-month vacancy for this post.

The 47-43 vote clears the way for Waltz to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week, where U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to address the annual gathering on Tuesday.

During his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this summer, Waltz stressed the need for reform at the UN, including a review of U.S. funding and measures to root out anti-Semitism in the institution, according to an NBC News report.

Waltz had served as Trump's national security adviser since January but stepped down after mistakenly adding a journalist to a private Signal chat with senior national security officials discussing an upcoming strike in Yemen in March.

On March 27, Trump withdrew his nomination of Republican Elise Stefanik to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Waltz was then nominated by Trump for the post in May.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield left her office on Jan. 20 when Trump took office as U.S. president.