WASHINGTON — Sen. Marco Rubio, who will lead the State Department under President-elect Donald Trump as secretary of state, faces questions from his Senate colleagues Wednesday morning on what is expected to be the least controversial question. confirmation hearing this week.
Rubio, who has extensive diplomatic experience, is likely to move forward with the confirmation process to become the nation’s top diplomat. But the questions could become awkward if Democrats highlight potential foreign policy differences with Trump, their former rival who they now have to defend.
“Ultimately, under President Trump, the top priority of the U.S. State Department must and will continue to be America,” Rubio is expected to say, according to excerpts of prepared remarks. has been done. The hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and can be watched live in the player above.
The senator has taken tough positions on China, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. He has been the Senate’s most outspoken voice on China, calling the country “the defining threat of this century.” Since then, lawmakers from both parties have adopted his position on China.
Rubio has warned of national security risks and sought to hold China accountable for human rights abuses. In 2020, the Chinese government expelled Rubio from the country in response to his criticism. It’s unclear what will happen to the ban once he takes office and is tasked with carrying out President Trump’s foreign policy goals.
Rubio plans to attack China during the hearing, according to excerpts. He will say that the Chinese government “lied, cheated, hacked and stole its way to global superpower status at our expense.”
Mr. Rubio inherits a position that faces a number of global challenges, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, persistent violence in the Middle East, China’s invasion of Taiwan, and strained relations with the United States, but Mr. Trump also It also suggests the use of military or coercive force to control the country. Greenland and the Panama Canal. He has floated the idea of annexing Canada as the country’s 51st province and has threatened a trade war with the US ally.
Mr. Rubio will also denounce the post-Cold War world order as “outdated” and claim it is a “weapon to be used against us.”
“While the United States has too often continued to prioritize “world order” over its core national interests, countries have and continue to do so by recognizing that other countries are in their best interests. “Continued to act like he did,” Rubio is expected to say. . “And instead of being integrated into the post-Cold War world order, they have manipulated it to suit their own interests at the expense of ours.”
Who is Marco Rubio?
Kevin Dietch/Getty Images
Rubio, 53, was born in Miami to Cuban immigrants who arrived in the United States in May 1956. Her father worked as a banquet bartender, and her mother worked as a hotel maid. According to the Senate’s website, Mr. Rubio was “drawn to public service largely because of his grandfather, who witnessed the destruction of his homeland by communism.”
Mr. Rubio’s long political career began when he served as a West Miami city commissioner after earning degrees from the University of Florida and the University of Miami School of Law. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000 and served until 2008, including two years as Speaker.
The Florida Republican was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and won a third six-year term in 2022. He served as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Mr. Rubio was one of a crowded field of Republican candidates running for president in 2016, but he lost to Mr. Trump in the primary in his home state of Florida and ended his campaign. The two sides have been at loggerheads throughout the campaign, with Rubio calling Trump a “fraud” who has taken over the Republican Party and “the most sleazy person” ever to run for president. Mr. Trump tried to denigrate his rival with the nickname “Little Marco.”
Still, Rubio supported Trump as a presidential candidate even after he withdrew from the race, and the two have since developed a working relationship. Mr. Trump eyed Mr. Rubio as a running mate in the 2024 election, but instead settled on Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
How to watch Marco Rubio’s confirmation hearing
CBS News will stream Rubio’s confirmation hearing Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET in the player above.
Does Marco Rubio have the votes to check?
Mr. Rubio is almost certain to be confirmed with bipartisan support. Many Senate Democrats have praised Trump’s choice and pledged to support his nomination on the floor, giving him far more than the 50 votes needed for confirmation, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, who spoke with Mr. Rubio on Monday, called the Florida Republican “a good choice” and said he “very much understands the role of the United States on an international scale.” .
“I intend to vote in favor of his nomination when it is considered in the Senate,” Durbin, the top Senate Democrat, said in a statement.
