The Senate on Monday evening unanimously confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state, providing President Trump the first member of his Cabinet on Inauguration Day.

Mr. Rubio’s resignation as the senior senator from Florida was submitted just after the 99-0 vote.

Mr. Trump, soon after taking his oath of office on Monday, formally submitted a slate of his top nominees to the Senate, which allowed the Senate to begin officially processing nominations.

Mr. Rubio was the first of five Trump nominees to secure committee approval, but he was the only one to receive a floor vote.

The mood was jovial as Mr. Rubio huddled with his colleagues for a final time on the Senate floor ahead of his confirmation vote. He had earlier that evening earned unanimous approval from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he previously served as a senior member. The committee vote was 22-0.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman James E. Risch, Idaho Republican, said Mr. Rubio in his confirmation hearing last week “was flawless in his presentation of American foreign policy.”

“Our challenges in the foreign relations lane and the national security lane are enormous and complicated,” he said. “I can’t think of another person better equipped to tackle these issues than our colleague, Marco Rubio.”

The other nominations that Senate committees of jurisdiction reported out on Monday included three more potential members of Mr. Trump’s national security team: Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Kristi Noem for homeland security secretary and John Ratcliffe for Central Intelligence Agency director.

Those three are expected to be next in line for floor action. The fifth nominee to get a committee vote, Russell Vought for director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, has to go through two committees so his nomination is not ready to be considered on the floor and would likely be lower in priority than the national security nominees.

All 100 senators needed to consent to a time agreement to hold confirmation votes on Mr. Trump’s first day in office. Democrats’ support for Mr. Rubio allowed his nomination to advance, but the other nominees faced at least some opposition in their committee votes.

“Democrats have been very clear about our approach to President Trump’s nominees. We will neither rubber-stamp nominees we feel are grossly unqualified nor oppose nominees that deserve serious consideration,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat. “Sen. Rubio is an example of a qualified nominee we think should be confirmed quickly.”

Democrats say Mr. Hegseth is unqualified. They’ve said the Army combat veteran and former Fox News host does not have enough leadership experience to manage a department with more than 3 million employees and a nearly $900 billion budget.

Democrats have also raised concerns about allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement. Mr. Hegseth has dismissed the accusations as anonymous smears.

Mr. Hegseth’s nomination was reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee in a 14-13 party-line vote.

Mr. Ratcliffe and Ms. Noem fared better in their committee votes.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence approved Mr. Ratcliffe’s nomination in a 14-3 vote. It was not immediately clear who the three opponents were, as the vote was closed to the press and the public.

The panel’s chair and ranking member, Sens. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, and Mark R. Warner, Virginia Democrat, issued a joint statement urging “expeditious consideration” of Mr. Ratcliffe’s nomination on the floor.

“Our world is far too dangerous for any delay in having a Senate-confirmed leader in charge of the CIA,” they said.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 13-2 to approve Ms. Noem’s nomination. Only Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ruben Gallego of Arizona voted in opposition.

That panel also approved Mr. Vought’s nomination on a 8-7, party-line vote. Mr. Vought needs additional approval from the Senate Budget Committee, which will hold a confirmation hearing with him on Wednesday.

Republicans are prioritizing the national security nominees for floor action, but how quickly they see confirmation votes depends on the cooperation of Democrats. It takes at least four days after a committee vote to confirm a nominee under regular order if any senator objects to a quick vote.

Democrats denied Mr. Trump an opportunity to surpass his previous Inauguration Day confirmation record. In 2017, the Senate confirmed two of Mr. Trump’s Cabinet nominees, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, the same day he was sworn in for his first term.

In 2021, President Biden got one Cabinet-level nomination confirmed on Inauguration Day when the Senate approved Avril Haines as his director of national intelligence. Two days later, the Senate confirmed his Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and other Cabinet nominees followed at a relatively slow pace.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, has set a goal of confirming Cabinet nominees more quickly than in the two previous administrations. He wants to return to the 2009 standard set when the Senate confirmed 12 of President Obama’s Cabinet secretaries within 15 days of his taking office.

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.