WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state on Monday, voting unanimously to let President Donald Trump name the first member of his recent Cabinet on Inauguration Day.
Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is among Trump’s least controversial nominees and the vote was 99-0. A quick vote is also expected on another candidate, John Ratcliffe for CIA director. Action against others, including former combat veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, is expected later in the week.
“Marco Rubio is a very intelligent man with a remarkable understanding of American foreign policy,” Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican, said as the chamber opened.
It is often tradition for the Senate to convene immediately after the ceremonial pomp of the inauguration to begin assembling the recent president’s team, particularly national security officials. During Trump’s first term, the Senate quickly confirmed his defense and homeland security secretaries on the first day, and President Joe Biden’s pick for director of national intelligence was confirmed on his own inauguration day.
With Trump’s return to the White House and his Republican Party controlling the majority in Congress, his outsider choices in the Cabinet are becoming more apparent, despite initial skepticism and opposition on both sides of the aisle.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune reacted quickly on Monday, saying he expected voting on Trump’s nominee to begin “immediately.”
Democrats have calculated that it is better for them to give the impression that they are more willing to work with Trump than simply build a blockade against his candidates. They maintain their opposition to some of his other candidates who have less support, including Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said his party “will not rubber-stamp candidates who we believe are completely unqualified, nor reject candidates who deserve serious consideration.”
Rubio is an example of “a qualified candidate who we believe should be confirmed quickly.”
Senate committees have held lengthy confirmation hearings for more than a dozen of the Cabinet nominees, with more to come this week. And multiple panels are expected to meet tardy Monday to begin voting on whether to advance the nominees to the full Senate for confirmation.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced Rubio’s nomination tardy Monday. The Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee advanced the nominations of Hegseth and Ratcliffe.
Rubio, a popular senator and former Trump rival in the 2016 presidential campaign, has grown closer to the president in recent years. He appeared last week to answer questions before the Foreign Relations Committee, of which he has been a member for more than a decade.
As secretary of state, Rubio would be the country’s top diplomat and the first Latino to hold the position. Born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, he has long been involved in foreign policy, particularly in South America, and has proven to be a hawk on the rise of China.
During his confirmation hearing last week, Rubio warned of the consequences of America’s “imbalanced relationship” with China. While he embraces Trump’s anti-globalist rhetoric, Rubio is also seen as an internationalist who understands the power of U.S. engagement on the global stage.
Rubio is expected to win bipartisan support among both Republicans and Democrats. He would take over from outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said he hoped the Trump administration would continue Biden’s policies in the Middle East to end the war in Gaza and aid Ukraine counter Russia’s nomination.
The Senate is split 53-47, but the resignation of Vice President JD Vance drops the GOP majority to 52 until his successor arrives. The Republicans need almost all party members to overcome the Democrats’ resistance to the candidates.
An objection from a single senator, as is expected with Hegseth and several other choices, would force the Senate to take procedural steps that would delay the vote later in the week.
