Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was confirmed unanimously by the Senate to be 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 during a floor vote by the full Senate Monday night, several hours after Trump took his oath of office earlier in the day.
Rubio enters his role as secretary of state with a strong foreign policy background as a longtime member of the Senate’s Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees. He is also a first-generation Cuban American.
During his confirmation hearing, Rubio expressed that under Trump, the State Department’s “top priority” will be to put America first. He also stated that the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza will be major challenges in his new role.
Rubio described the fighting between Ukraine and Russia as a “stalemate” that “has to end” and supported Israel’s actions to defend itself against Hamas. He also called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) “very important” and insisted that Trump was also a NATO supporter.
Rubio repeatedly singled out China during his remarks, stating that they have “lied, cheated, hacked and stolen their way to global superpower status, at our expense.” He also expressed that the idea of conflict between Israel and Palestine is unacceptable and that the conditions for peace have not been in place for a substantial period of time.
While Rubio did not face significant opposition to his confirmation, some Trump-aligned Republicans have expressed disdain over Rubio’s willingness to certify the results of the 2020 election that Trump alleged was “stolen” from him.
