Updated January 15, 2025 at 12:06 PM ET
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Who: Marco Rubio
Nominated for: secretary of state
You might know him from: The Senate and as the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He was also a candidate in the 2016 GOP presidential primary race, where Trump dubbed him "Little Marco" and Rubio warned voters not to support Trump, saying "friends do not let friends vote for con artists."
More about Rubio:
- He would be the first Latino in the post.
- He is known for hawkish stances on China, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela.
- His interventionist foreign policy positions put him at odds with Trump, but now says he'll follow the president's lead.
What does this role do: The secretary of state is fourth in line of succession to the president and the top Cabinet position. The secretary oversees U.S. foreign policy.
What's happened at the hearing:
Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio drew bipartisan support among Senate Foreign Relations Committee members at a hearing Wednesday and appears headed for confirmation under President-elect Donald Trump's administration.
Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, was among a long list of Republicans who lauded Rubio's nomination, saying he was confident he was the person the country will need in the role under President-elect Donald Trump. For his part, Rubio kept some exchanges with senators light, but took a serious stance while making his case to become the country's chief diplomat who will enforce Trump's directives.
"The foreign policy of the United States will be set by the president, and my job is to advise on it and ultimately to execute," he told the committee. "I think the president has been abundantly clear and that is his policy is about making American safer, stronger and more prosperous."
As Republicans praised Rubio, Democrats also shared support but simultaneously raised concerns over his interventionist foreign policy views that clash with Trump's positions. Rubio also faced questions over conflicts of interests between Trump's family business ties with foreign countries.
The panel's top Democrat, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, echoed other members of her party who said Rubio was well qualified for the new role. However, she questioned him on U.S. alliances with NATO and Ukraine. While Rubio said he would follow Trump's directives, he still reiterated his defense of NATO and took aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"There's no doubt about it, but this war has to end," Rubio said of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. "And I think it should be the official policy of the United States that we want to see it end."
He added that Putin's goal now is to have maximum leverage, but Ukraine should have leverage, too. He didn't rule out that Ukraine may need to make some concessions in the end.
"It's going to be very difficult," he said. "This will not be easy."
Rubio also noted a new Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal was part of several positive developments in the region. Rubio argued to the committee that Israel has faced a series of existential threats, and in some ways, still does today.
"It's not just about the ceasefire today — although that is very important. The good news is that potentially we have had a dynamic shift in the region that has a historic opportunity," he said. "If appropriately structured and purposed, that changes the dynamics of what might be possible."
He also highlighted in his testimony his concerns that countries such as China are encroaching on the Latin American countries of Panama, Nicaragua and more. His hopes to also focus on the Western Hemisphere in a new way is unprecedented, and many allies say, welcomed.
"I think the 21st century will be defined by what happens between the United States and China," Rubio said.
He added, "What we can't ignore is that, at the current road that we're on now, is an unbalanced relationship."
Rubio also addressed Trump's recent comments on Greenland and the Panama Canal
On the Panama Canal, Rubio argued that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised issue with its sovereignty, and potential threats.
"In a time of conflict, China could use its presence on both ends of the canal as a chokepoint against the United States," he said. Trump has suggested the U.S. should take control of the Panama Canal.
He also added that Greenland remains strategically important to the United States and to the West as a result of its geographic location and access to minerals. And as more navigable space is opening in the Arctic, it could cut key transit times dramatically. Trump has expressed interest in the U.S. buying the island — which Denmark's prime minister, who oversees the autonomous territory, has made clear is not for sale.
"We have to have partners along the Arctic region that will join us in ensuring that the Arctic region is open for free and flow of navigation as these as these passages open up, because global trade is in many ways going to be infused by it," Rubio said.
The hearing was not a completely smooth meeting for Rubio. At its start, it was punctuated with loud disruptions from several protesters who stood and yelled in English and Spanish. One called Rubio "little Marco" and another said in Spanish that children were being murdered in Latin American countries. All the protestors were quickly removed forcibly from the room by U.S. Capitol Police.
"I get bilingual protestors!" Rubio quipped at one point.
Rubio's confirmation process may be among the easiest of Trump's picks
A longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio is well-known by the lawmakers questioning him today. The committee scheduled its next meeting to take up the Rubio confirmation the day Trump is sworn in, setting up the potential he could be appointed to the role on the new administration's first day.
If confirmed, the 53-year-old Florida Republican would be the first Latino to serve as America's top diplomat. Born in Florida, the son of Cuban immigrants was first elected senator in 2010 and gained a reputation as a hawkish voice on China, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela.
Rubio and Trump launched a series of vicious attacks against each other in the 2016 presidential election. That year, Rubio told voters they should not back Trump as candidate for president, saying "friends do not let friends vote for con artists." Trump dismissed him as "Little Marco." However, behind the scenes during that election, the two were becoming unlikely allies. By 2024, Rubio became a fixture on the campaign trail during Trump's re-election bid. He was in the running to be his vice president before former Sen. J.D. Vance was picked instead.
Rubio could still face plenty of challenges, including tough questions about why he voted against aid to Ukraine last year, despite his previous positions on Russia's war there.
China has imposed sanctions on Rubio, which could make travel there difficult. Rubio has accused China of a "grotesque campaign of genocide" against Uyghur Muslims and he wrote legislation that banned imports from the Xinjiang region. This human rights advocacy has put him at odds with Trump ally Elon Musk, who opened a Tesla dealership in Xinjiang soon after Rubio's Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was signed into law in 2021.
Rubio also faced death threats after he spoke out against the Venezuelan regime in 2017.
The outgoing Biden administration has made it a priority to build up alliances in Asia to counter China's rise. At the State Department, Secretary of State Antony Blinken set up "China House," an office that draws on experts across the U.S. government to focus on China. That may be one office that Rubio will want to keep.
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