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 complicated points throughout the globe.
Right here have 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 completely contention-free.
The secretary of state-hopeful’s opening remarks have been interrupted by a number of protesters affiliated with a group known as Code Pink, who have been protesting the Israel-Hamas struggle and wore pink shirts that learn “cease killing the youngsters of Gaza.”
Two of the demonstrators pressured to go away the chamber have been male, earlier than a feminine protester additionally stood up and yelled out in Spanish.
She was rapidly escorted from the room and the listening to promptly restarted.
“I get bilingual protesters,” Rubio stated to the panel of senators with a smile earlier than resuming his remarks.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sailed by means of his affirmation listening to with the Senate Overseas Relations Committee on Wednesday. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu by way of 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 either side of the aisle additionally joked round with their Senate colleague.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., 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.
Sen. Cory Booker , D-N.J., drew chuckles when he stated, “Sen. Rubio, the President [elect] made an awesome choice in selecting you. You’re a thought chief in overseas coverage. I, nonetheless, don’t suppose most People know the way nice of a thought chief you might be in NCAA, NFL and highschool soccer, and I’m a bit of dissatisfied that you just’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 hardly ever seen throughout Cupboard nomination hearings, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., advised a touching story from considered one of her first encounters with Rubio — a stark distinction to her questioning of protection secretary nominee 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 alter its guidelines and permit new dad and mom to carry their toddler onto the Senate ground throughout a vote.
Duckworth, who’s bodily disabled after surviving a 2004 RPG assault on her helicopter in Iraq, described rolling throughout the Senate ground 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 help you’,” she stated. “And I simply need to thanks for that kindness… It was a second of true bipartisanship.”
Rubio responded and stated, “I believe what I precisely stated is, ‘What’s the massive deal? This place is already stuffed with infants,'” as soon as once more drawing laughs.
Although Rubio confronted powerful questions on detailed geopolitical points on almost each continent, lawmakers on either 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 levity, as Rubio was pressed on points with main safety implications just like the struggle in Ukraine, China, NATO and Artic security.
Rubio shocked nobody along with his tough-on-China strategy and his dedication to remaining a robust ally of NATO’s.
Nonetheless, one space senators could have hoped Rubio would have come out extra definitively was over what continued help for Ukraine could appear to be 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 cease-fire. However securing an enduring peace deal might be troublesome as Ukraine coming into the NATO alliance has been deemed a non-negotiable by each Kyiv — who desires the alliance’s safety — and Moscow — which has fervently opposed Ukrainian NATO membership.
“The reality of the matter is that on this battle there is no such thing as a means Russia takes all of Ukraine. The Ukrainians are too courageous, and struggle too onerous, and the nation is just too huge,” Rubio stated.
Rubio testifies earlier than the Senate Overseas Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Andrew Cabellero-Reynolds/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
However he added that “there’s no means Ukraine can also be pushing these individuals [Russians] all the way in which again to the place they have been on the eve of the invasion.”
Rubio identified that Ukraine will be unable to maintain up with the sheer variety of our bodies that Russia can throw in to the struggle.
“It is vital for everybody to be real looking. There should be concessions,” he stated. “This isn’t going to be simple. “[It’s] going to require quite a lot of onerous diplomacy.”
TRUMP CABINET PICKS PAM BONDI, MARCO RUBIO, OTHERS FACED A FULL DAY OF QUESTIONS FROM SENATORS
THE CHINA PROBLEM
The safety threats surrounding China got here up in almost each concern Rubio was requested to deal with, together with its rising presence in Africa and Latin America, its oppressive practices within the South China Sea, considerations 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 in the Panama Canal.
“That is one thing that is existed now for at the very least a decade in my service,” he stated, 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 considerations amongst army officers and safety officers, together with in Panama, at that time, [was] that might in the future be used as a choke level to impede commerce in a second of battle.”
“It is a official concern that must be confronted,” Rubio added.
The problem of Chinese language management over the foremost 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 the topic 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 a radical response.
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Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., applauded Rubio for being “extraordinarily well-prepared” for his affirmation listening to as the following secretary of state. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos)
KAINE GUSHES
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., applauded Rubio for being “extraordinarily well-prepared” for his affirmation listening to as the following secretary of state — a stark distinction to his tense engagement with Hegseth in the course of the listening to a day prior.
“We’re used to seeing nominees who know so much about a few issues, and typically, who know little or no about nearly every little thing,” he stated. “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 e-book.
“He isn’t having a thumb by means of a binder to determine learn how to reply a specific query,” Kaine continued. “I’ve at all times 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 gave the impression to be shared by the whole lot of the committee, and lots of the senators expressed confidence that Rubio will probably be unanimously confirmed for the highest job.
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