Newsman: The United States Senate voted unanimously to confirm Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state on Monday, making him the first confirmed member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet in his second administration. All senators voted in favor of Rubio, including Rubio himself. Senator Rubio, the first Hispanic American to hold the position, is expected to resign his position in the Senate shortly.
Rubio’s experience as the top Republican on Senate Intelligence Committee gave his resume the necessary credentials to earn the public backing of a number of Democrats. The newly-confirmed Secretary of State talks about becoming the first Latino to occupy the job, plans for the TikTok ban and President Donald Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6 defendants. There’s currently one vacancy in the chamber due to Vice President J.D. Vance resigning in mid-January.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee had voted Monday to advance Rubio’s nomination to the Senate floor on a unanimous vote, 22 to 0, and Idaho Sen. James Risch, chairman of the committee, had said he expected to call Rubio’s nomination up for the full Senate later Monday.
State Department officials that told assuming all went to plan, the new Secretary of state Rubio would give a speech to mark his arrival on Tuesday. He will also meet both one on one and as a group with the foreign ministers of India, Australia, and Japan — the three countries that, along with the United States, make up the “Quad,” a diplomatic partnership seen as critical to countering China’s influence in the Pacific.
“Leading the U.S. Department of State is a tremendous responsibility, and I am honored by the trust President Trump has placed in me,” Rubio said after he was tapped by Trump in November. “As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda. Under the leadership of President Trump, we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else. I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the U.S. Senate so the President has his national security and foreign policy team in place when he takes office on January 20.”
