Washington – Senate confirmed on Monday Marco Rubio as Secretary of StateThereby, he became the first nominee of President Trump's Cabinet to win the approval of the upper house.
The Senate confirmed Rubio by a vote of 99 to 0 after his former colleagues in the Senate spoke about his qualifications for the job.
Rubio has represented Florida Has been in the Senate since 2011 and resigned on Monday at Mr Trump's inauguration. The 53-year-old China hawk has extensive foreign policy experience and was widely considered to have one of the easiest paths to Senate confirmation.
Rubio, who has taken hardline stances on China, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, faces a number of global challenges, including Russia's war in Ukraine, persistent violence in the Middle East, China's aggression against Taiwan and its tense relations with the United States. Relationships are involved. Mr Trump has also suggested using military force or coercion to gain control of Greenland and the Panama Canal. He has annexed Canada as the 51st state and threatened a trade war with US allies.
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The Florida Republican appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a confirmation hearing last week. Rubio was warmly welcomed back from the committee, where he was previously a senior member.
“Her performance was impeccable,” Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, the Republican chairman of the committee, said before the confirmation vote.
His confirmation hearing focused largely on U.S. relations with China, which he called “the most powerful and dangerous nearest rival this country has ever had.”
“The 21st century will be defined by what happens between the United States and China,” Rubio told his Senate colleagues. He reiterated his long-held belief that the United States must more forcefully push back China's influence.
“They have elements that the Soviet Union never had,” Rubio said. “They are a technological competitor and competitor, an industrial competitor, an economic competitor, a geopolitical competitor, a scientific competitor – now in every sector. It's an extraordinary challenge.”
But Rubio, who was banned from China due to his criticisms of its government, acknowledged that his role as the country's top diplomat required him to engage with China to prevent armed conflict amid intense competition between the two. Will be required.
Rubio also defended Mr Trump's “America First” agenda, declaring that the State Department's top priority “will be the United States of America”, as well as his positions on Greenland and the Panama Canal.
In response to questions about Chinese influence on the canal, he said, “It is a legitimate issue that needs to be faced.” “President Trump isn't inventing this.”
Rubio was born in Miami to Cuban immigrants. After earning degrees from the University of Florida and the University of Miami Law School, Rubio served as a city commissioner in West Miami and was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000 before being elected to the Senate in 2010.
In 2016, Rubio sought the Republican presidential nomination, facing Mr. Trump and several other candidates for the White House. In 2024, Rubio was on the shortlist to become Mr Trump's running mate.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Ashley Moody was appointed, The state attorney general, to fill Rubio's seat in the Senate until a special election is held in 2026.