The Senate unanimously voted 99–0 Monday night to confirm outgoing GOP Florida Senator Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making him the first of President Donald Trump’s nominees to be confirmed.
Rubio easily moved through the GOP-controlled Senate with support from many of his Democratic colleagues. A non-controversial pick, Rubio saw his nomination pass through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously Monday afternoon. It will soon be brought for vote before the full chamber.
Rubio was previously a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and theU.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, giving him deep experience with national security issues, particularly those concerning Latin America. Once an opponent of Trump, Rubio has come around to Trump’s populist agenda and is a leading critic of the Chinese Communist Party.
Rubio made confronting the Chinese regime the focal point of his prepared remarks at the beginning of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s confirmation hearing last week. He labeled China as a greater threat to the U.S. than the Soviet Union and said it is the most dangerous adversary America has ever faced.
As secretary of state, Rubio inherits the recently agreed upon cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East that Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, helped negotiate. The cease-fire deal began over the weekend with Hamas releasing the first three of the remaining hostages the terrorist group has held in captivity for over a year. Rubio is a strong supporter of Israel and believes that the Iranian regime is weaker than it has ever been.
Rubio will also be tasked with executing Trump’s plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, and Trump’s stated goal of retaking the Panama Canal. Rubio acknowledged that it would not be easy to find a solution to the conflict in Ukraine, as both sides appear unready to negotiate.
“Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end — and perhaps most important, the wars we never get into,” Trump said during his inauguration address.
“My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier.”
Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) picked Republican Ashley Moody, the state’s attorney general, to fill Rubio’s seat last week ahead of his confirmation. Moody is a close DeSantis ally and is likely to back Trump’s agenda in the Senate.