Senate confirms Marco Rubio as secretary of state in first Trump cabinet approval

Washington – The Senate confirmed Monday Marco Rubio as Secretary of Statemaking him the first of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees to win the approval of the upper chamber.

The Senate confirmed Rubio in a 99-0 vote as his former Senate colleagues touted his qualifications for the job.

Rubio has represented Florida in the Senate since 2011 and resigned on Monday after Mr. Trump’s inauguration. The 53-year-old China hawk has extensive foreign policy experience and was widely regarded as having among the smoothest paths to confirmation in the Senate.

Rubio, who has taken tough stances on China, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, inherits the position facing a number of global challenges, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, ongoing violence in the Middle East, China’s aggression against Taiwan and its strained relationship with the United States Mr. Trump has also proposed using military force or coercion to gain control of Greenland and the Panama Canal. He floats and annexes Canada as the 51st state and has threatened trade wars with US allies.

The Florida Republican appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week for a confirmation hearing. Rubio received a warm reception from the committee, where he was previously a senior member.

“His performance was flawless,” Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the committee’s Republican chairman, said ahead of the confirmation vote.

His confirmation hearing focused largely on America’s relationship with China, which he called “the most potent and dangerous adversary this nation has ever faced.”

“The 21st century will be defined by what happens between the United States and China,” Rubio told his Senate colleagues, reiterating his long-held belief that the United States must push back more forcefully on China’s influence.

“They have elements that the Soviet Union never possessed,” Rubio said. “They are a technological adversary and competitor, an industrial competitor, an economic competitor, a geopolitical competitor, a scientific competitor now — in every area. It’s an extraordinary challenge.”

But Rubio, who was banned from China because of his criticism of its government, acknowledged that in his role as the country’s top diplomat he will need to engage China to prevent an armed conflict amid intense competition between the two.

Rubio also defended Mr. Trump’s “America First” agenda and declared that the State Department’s top priority “will be the United States,” as well as his positions on Greenland and the Panama Canal.

“This is a legitimate issue that needs to be confronted,” he said of questions about Chinese influence over the channel. “President Trump is not making this up.”

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 West Miami city commissioner 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 a number of other White House hopefuls. In 2024, Rubio was on the shortlist to be Mr. Trump’s running mate.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Ashley Moody, state attorney general, to fill Rubio’s seat in the Senate until a special election can be held in 2026.