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Florida’s Republican Sen. Marco Rubio sailed by means of his affirmation listening to with the Senate Overseas Relations Committee on Wednesday, all however assuring he’ll assume the function of prime diplomat beneath the brand new Trump administration later this month.
Rubio’s affirmation listening to — a course of often stuffed with verbal diatribes, sturdy political agendas and illusive solutions — was stuffed with pleasantries, with each Democratic and Republican lawmakers applauding his work within the Senate and his in-depth information of advanced points throughout the globe.
Right here had been the highest moments from Rubio’s listening to.
RUBIO TO PITCH FOREIGN POLICY CREDENTIALS TO SENATE AS HE VIES TO BECOME AMERICA’S TOP DIPLOMAT
PROTESTERS
Whereas Rubio could have been welcomed by his Senate colleagues, his listening to wasn’t solely contention-free.
The Secretary of State-hopeful’s opening remarks had been interrupted by a number of protesters affiliated with a bunch referred to as Code Pink, who had been protesting the Israel-Hamas battle and wore pink shirts that learn “cease killing the kids of Gaza.”
Two of the demonstrators pressured to depart the chamber had been male, earlier than a feminine protester additionally stood up and yelled out in Spanish.
She was shortly escorted from the room and the listening to promptly restarted.
“I get bilingual protesters,” Rubio mentioned to the panel of Senators with a smile earlier than resuming his remarks.
Florida’s Republican Sen. Marco Rubio sailed by means of his affirmation listening to with the Senate Overseas Relations Committee. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu through Getty Photos)
IN JEST
Rubio’s quip concerning the protesters appeared to set the tone for his listening to.
Although Rubio confronted powerful questions on detailed geopolitical points on almost each continent, lawmakers on each side of the aisle additionally joked round with their Senate colleague.
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott launched Rubio on the prime of the listening to and quipped that “lastly” he’ll get to be the senior Senator of Florida after the duo have served collectively within the higher chamber since 2019.
Democrat from New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker drew chuckles when he mentioned, “Senator Rubio the President [elect] made an amazing resolution in selecting you.
“You’re a thought chief in overseas coverage. I, nonetheless, don’t assume most Individuals understand how nice of a thought chief you might be in NCAA, NFL and highschool soccer, and I’m a little bit disenchanted that you simply’re not going to the pinnacle of the NCAA proper now.”
To which Rubio replied, “Not but,” garnering laughs from the room.
In one other bipartisan second not often seen throughout Cupboard nomination hearings, Illinois Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth informed a touching story from certainly one of her first encounters with Rubio — a stark distinction to her questioning of Pete Hegseth the day prior.
In 2018, not solely was Duckworth comparatively new to the higher chamber, however the soon-to-be new mother was additionally pushing the congressional physique to vary its guidelines and permit new dad and mom to convey their toddler onto the Senate flooring throughout a vote.
Duckworth, who’s bodily disabled after surviving a 2004 RPG assault on her helicopter in Iraq, described rolling throughout the Senate flooring in her wheelchair when she heard somebody name out her title.
“And also you got here working down from the highest again of the Senate chambers to inform me, ‘I’m with you. I’ll assist you’,” she mentioned. “And I simply need to thanks for that kindness… It was a second of true bipartisanship.”
Rubio responded and mentioned, “I believe what I precisely mentioned is, ‘What’s the large deal? This place is already stuffed with infants’,” as soon as once more drawing laughs.
INTERNATIONAL UNDERWATER CABLE ATTACKS BY RUSSIA, CHINA ARE NO ‘MERE COINCIDENCE’ WARNS EU’S TOP DIPLOMAT
Although Rubio confronted powerful questions on detailed geopolitical points on almost each continent, lawmakers on each side of the aisle additionally joked round with him. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photos)
SERIOUS MATTERS
The five-hour listening to wasn’t all enjoyable and laughs, as Rubio was pressed on points with main safety implications just like the battle in Ukraine, China, NATO and Artic safety.
Rubio stunned nobody together with his tough-on-China strategy and his dedication to remaining a powerful ally of NATO’s.
Although one space Senators could have hoped Rubio would have come out extra definitively was over what continued assist for Ukraine could seem like and the way the incoming Trump administration will deal with the query of Ukraine changing into a NATO member.
Each Ukraine and Russia have signaled they’re open to negotiating a ceasefire. However securing an enduring peace deal might be tough as Ukraine coming into the NATO alliance has been deemed a non-negotiable by each Kyiv — who needs the alliance’s safety — and Moscow — which has fervently opposed Ukrainian NATO membership.
“The reality of the matter is that on this battle there isn’t a method Russia takes all of Ukraine. The Ukrainians are too courageous, and struggle too arduous, and the nation is simply too massive,” he mentioned.
US Senator Marco Rubio testifies earlier than a Senate Overseas Relations Committee listening to on his nomination to be Secretary of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 15, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP through Getty Photos)
However Rubio added that “there’s no method Ukraine can be pushing these folks [Russians] all the best way again to the place they had been on the eve of the invasion.”
Rubio identified that Ukraine won’t be able to maintain up with the sheer variety of our bodies that Russia can throw in to the battle.
“It is vital for everybody to be lifelike. There should be concessions,” Rubio mentioned. “This isn’t going to be straightforward. “[It’s] going to require a variety of arduous diplomacy.”
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THE CHINA PROBLEM
The safety threats surrounding China got here up in almost each concern Rubio was requested to handle, together with its rising presence in Africa and Latin America, its oppressive practices within the South China Sea, issues over commerce, human rights abuses, tech and its rising relationships with different adversarial nations.
However one concern newer to headlines as of late is China’s involvement within the Panama Canal.
“That is one thing that is existed now for not less than a decade in my service,” he mentioned referring to a 2017 journey he took to Panama. “Chinese language firms management port services at each ends of the canal — the east and the west. And the issues amongst army officers and safety officers, together with in Panama, at that time, [was] that would in the future be used as a choke level to impede commerce in a second of battle.”
“It is a reputable concern that must be confronted,” he added.
The difficulty over Chinese language management over the key waterway resurfaced earlier this month when Trump refused to say whether or not he would rule out army intervention within the Panama Canal.
Rubio was pressed on this concern a number of occasions, although he was clear that he was not but at a degree the place he knew sufficient concerning the authorized parameters of U.S. intervention in Panama to offer an intensive response.
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Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine applauded Rubio for being “extraordinarily well-prepared” for his affirmation listening to as the subsequent secretary of state. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos)
KAINE GUSHES
Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine applauded Rubio for being “extraordinarily well-prepared” for his affirmation listening to as the subsequent secretary of state — a stark distinction to his tense engagement with Hegseth throughout his listening to in the future prior.
“We’re used to seeing nominees who know rather a lot about a few issues, and typically, who know little or no about nearly the whole lot,” he mentioned. “However I believe you have seen a listening to with a nominee who, agree or disagree with the factors he is made, he isn’t speaking out of a briefing ebook.
“He isn’t having a thumb by means of a binder to determine the best way to reply a selected query,” Kaine continued. “I’ve all the time been struck by working with Sen. Rubio on this committee, since I got here to the Senate in January 2013, that he has a really well-developed sense of the world and a ardour in all corners of it.”
Kaine’s sentiment seemed to be shared by the whole thing of the committee, and most of the senators expressed confidence that Rubio will probably be unanimously confirmed for the highest job.
Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox Information Digital overlaying Politics, U.S. and World information.
High 5 moments from Rubio’s Senate affirmation listening to: ‘I get bilingual protesters’
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