Washington — The Senate on Monday confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state, making him the first of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees to win the approval of the upper chamber.
The Senate confirmed Rubio in a 99 to 0 vote as his former colleagues in the Senate touted his qualifications for the job.
Rubio has represented Florida in the Senate since 2011 and resigned Monday upon Mr. Trump’s inauguration. The 53-year-old China hawk has extensive foreign policy experience and was widely considered to have among the smoothest paths to confirmation in the Senate.
Rubio, who has taken hardline positions on China, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, inherits the position facing 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 relationship with the U.S. Mr. Trump has also suggested using military force or coercion to gain control of Greenland and the Panama Canal. He’s floated annexing Canada as the 51st state and has threatened trade wars with U.S. allies.
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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 largely focused on U.S. relations with China, which he called “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.”
“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 U.S. must push back on China’s influence more forcefully.
“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 realm. It is an extraordinary challenge.”
But Rubio, who was banned from China over his criticisms of its government, acknowledged that in his role as the nation’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, declaring 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 canal. “President Trump is not 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 city commissioner in West Miami and was elected in 2000 to the Florida House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 2010.
In 2016, Rubio sought the Republican presidential nomination, facing off against Mr. Trump and a slew of other White House hopefuls. In 2024, Rubio was on the shortlist to be Mr. Trump’s running mate.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Ashley Moody, the state’s attorney general, to fill Rubio’s seat in the Senate until a special election can be held in 2026.
