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, a senator since 2011, was confirmed in a vote by the full House Senate Monday evening, just hours after Trump took his oath of office earlier in the day. The full Senate vote came after a separate vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which also voted unanimously in favor of Rubio’s nomination on Monday.
Rubio takes office as Secretary of State with a strong voice foreign policy background as a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committee. 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 later by the full Senate.
His path to confirmation has been less controversial than many of Trump’s other Cabinet picks. During Rubio’s first confirmation hearing last week before the Foreign Relations Committee, the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, said she believed Rubio had “the skills” and was “well qualified” to serve as secretary. next Secretary of State. She also echoed this sentiment Monday night before the full vote in the Senate.
“I have had a good working relationship with Senator Rubio for years and during his confirmation hearing I was very impressed with his understanding of policy,” Shaheen said Monday evening. “While we may not always agree, I believe he has the skills, knowledge and qualifications to be Secretary of State.”
Rubio said last week during his first confirmation hearing that under Trump, the State Department’s “top priority” will be to put America first.
“This won’t be easy,” Rubio said. “And it will be impossible without a strong and confident America that engages the world and once again puts our core national interests above all else.”
Rubio will face a number of major challenges in his new role, most notably the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war between them Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas terrorists wave at Gazans during the release of three Israeli hostages on Sunday. (TPS-IL)
Rubio described the fighting between Ukraine and Russia as a “stalemate” that “must end” during his confirmation hearing last week, adding that both countries will have to make “concessions” under Trump’s proposed peace deal. Meanwhile, despite Trump’s previous criticism of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Rubio called the alliance “very important” and emphasized that Trump was also a NATO supporter.
On Gaza, Rubio supported Israel’s actions to defend itself against Hamas, but did not indicate one way or the other whether he thought Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank was something he supported.
“The idea would be that there would be no conflict and that people could live side by side with each other without coming into conflict and with the opportunity to pursue prosperity,” Rubio said. “Unfortunately and unfortunately, the conditions for that have not been in place for quite some time.”
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) walks onstage during Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 16, 2024. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
Rubio was also repeatedly singled out China during his speech before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. “We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into this global order. And they reaped all its benefits. But they ignored all of her obligations and responsibilities,” Rubio said during his confirmation hearing. “Instead, they lied, cheated, hacked and stole their way to global superpower status at our expense.”
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Although Rubio faced no significant opposition to his nomination, some Trump-affiliated Republicans have expressed disdain over Rubio’s willingness to certify the results of the 2020 election, which Trump claimed were “stolen” from him. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has been a vocal supporter of less U.S. intervention, also questioned Rubio’s aggressive stance toward U.S. intervention amid his nomination as secretary of state.
