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Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was unanimously confirmed by the Senate as the next Secretary of State, making him the first of President Trump’s Cabinet picks to receive congressional approval.
Rubio, senator since 2011, was confirmed during a plenary vote Senate Monday night, several hours after Trump took the oath of office earlier that day. The full Senate vote followed a separate vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which also voted unanimously in favor of Rubio’s nomination on Monday.
Rubio assumes his position as Secretary of State with a strong foreign policy experience as a long-time member of the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees. He is also a first-generation Cuban-American.
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Marco Rubio at President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Monday, ahead of his confirmation vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and then by the full Senate.
His path to confirmation has been less controversial than that of many of Trump’s other Cabinet picks. At Rubio’s first confirmation hearing last week before the Foreign Relations Committee, the committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, said she thought Rubio possessed “the skills” and was “well qualified.” to serve as the next Secretary of State. She echoed this sentiment also Monday night before the full Senate vote.
“I have had a good working relationship with Senator Rubio for many years and during his hearing I was very impressed by his understanding of policy,” Shaheen said Monday night. “While we may not always agree, I believe he has the skills, knowledge and qualifications to be secretary of state.”
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Rubio said during his initial confirmation hearing last week that under Trump the State Department’s “top priority” will be putting America first.
“This will not be easy,” Rubio said. “And it will be impossible without a strong, confident America that engages the world, putting our fundamental national interests, once again, above all.”
Rubio will face some major challenges upon assuming his new role, particularly the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas terrorists greet Gazans during Sunday’s release of three Israeli hostages. (TPS-IL)
Rubio described fighting between Ukraine and Russia as a “stalemate” that “has to end” during his confirmation hearing last week, adding that under Trump’s proposed peace deal, both countries will have to make “concessions.” Meanwhile, despite Trump’s past criticism of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Rubio called the alliance “very important” and insisted that Trump was also a supporter of NATO.
In Gaza, Rubio supported Israel’s actions to defend itself against Hamas, but stopped short of indicating one way or another whether he thought Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank was something he supported.
“The idea would be that there were no conflicts and that people could live side by side without being in conflict and with the ability to seek prosperity,” Rubio said. “Unfortunately and unfortunately the conditions for that to exist have not been in place for a substantial period of time.”
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) takes the stage during Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, on July 16, 2024. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
Rubio also repeatedly highlighted Porcelain during his remarks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. “We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into this global order. And they took advantage of all its benefits. But they ignored all their obligations and responsibilities,” Rubio said at his hearing. “Instead, they have lied, cheated, hacked and stolen their way to global superpower status, at our expense.”
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While Rubio did not face significant opposition to his confirmation, some Trump-aligned Republicans have expressed disdain for Rubio’s willingness to certify the 2020 election results that Trump claims were “stolen” from him. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has been a strong supporter of less U.S. intervention, also questioned Rubio’s tough stance on U.S. intervention amid his confirmation as secretary of state.
