Takeaways from Marco Rubio’s Senate hearing

On By Littum

Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida nominated by Donald J. Trump to be the next secretary of state, was warmly welcomed by senators from both parties at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. He has served for years on the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees and is known as a lawmaker dedicated to the details of foreign policy.

“I believe you have the skills and are well qualified to serve as secretary of state,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of Hampshire, said in her opening remarks.

The remarkable lack of tension during the hearing indicated that Mr. Rubio almost certainly would be confirmed quickly.

From the lines of questioning, it was clear what senators want Mr. Rubio and the Trump administration must focus on: China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Mr. Rubio himself pointed to these four powers — what some call an “axis” — in his opening remarks.

They “saw chaos and instability and join and fund radical terrorist groups, then hide behind their UN veto power and the threat of nuclear war,” he said. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia have the right to veto UN resolutions.

Mr. Rubio repeatedly singled out the Chinese Communist Party for criticism, and unlike Mr. Trump he had no praise for any of the autocrats who rule these nations.

He said the administration’s official policy toward Ukraine would be to try to end the war started by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, and that leaders in both Kiev and Moscow would have to make concessions. U.S. officials say Russia has drawn its allies and partners into the war, relying on North Korea for troops and weapons, Iran for weapons and training, and China for a rebuilding of the Russian defense industrial base.

Mr. Rubio defended Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields and called the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, most of them non-combatants, “one of the terrible things about war.”

He expressed concern about threats to Israel’s security. “You cannot coexist with armed elements on your border seeking your destruction and disembowelment as a state. You simply cannot,” he said.

When asked if he believed that Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territory would be contrary to peace and security in the Middle East, Mr. Rubio did not give a direct answer, calling it “a very complex question.”

Mr. Rubio’s hearing was about two hours in when the committee chairman announced that Israel and Hamas had sealed an agreement to initiate a temporary ceasefire and partial release of hostages in Gaza. An initial hostage and cease-fire agreement struck in November 2023 fell apart after a week.

Mr. Rubio called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized “a very important alliance” and insisted that Mr. Trump was a NATO supporter. But he also supported Mr. Trump’s argument that a strong NATO requires Europe to spend more money on its collective defense.

The United States, he said, must choose whether to serve “a primary defense role or a backstop” for an independent Europe.

Some prominent Trump supporters remain distrustful of Mr. Rubio. They recall his vote to confirm the 2020 election result despite Mr. Trump’s false claims of election fraud. And they consider Mr. Rubio’s foreign policy record as dangerously interventionist.

Mr. Rubio has long been a hawkish voice on national security issues, often in ways that clash with Mr. Trump’s views, though the ideas are conventional among centrist Republican and Democratic politicians.

Earlier, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, criticized Mr. Rubio for advocating aggressive US intervention abroad. Mr. Paul has been outspoken in pushing for less use of US troops abroad and is skeptical that economic sanctions can lead to positive results.

On Wednesday, Mr. Paul sharply Mr. Rubio whether he saw any way to work with China instead of continuing to attack Beijing, and he also questioned the wisdom of many American and European politicians who insisted that Ukraine be admitted to NATO.