Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida named by Donald J. Trump to be the following secretary of state, was warmly welcomed by senators from each events at his affirmation listening to on Wednesday. He has served for years on the Overseas Relations and Intelligence Committees within the Senate, and is named a lawmaker dedicated to the small print of overseas coverage.
“I imagine you’ve got the talents and are properly certified to function secretary of state,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of Hampshire, mentioned in her opening remarks.
The notable lack of stress on the listening to indicated that Mr. Rubio would nearly definitely be confirmed rapidly.
Republican and Democratic senators agree on the most important U.S. challenges.
From the traces of questioning, it was clear what senators need Mr. Rubio and the Trump administration to deal with: China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Mr. Rubio himself pointed to these 4 powers — what some name an “axis” — in his opening remarks.
They “sow chaos and instability and align with and fund radical terror teams, then disguise behind their veto energy on the United Nations and the specter of nuclear conflict,” he mentioned. As everlasting members of the U.N. Safety Council, China and Russia have veto energy over U.N. resolutions.
Mr. Rubio repeatedly singled out the Chinese language Communist Celebration for criticism, and, not like Mr. Trump, he had no reward for any of the autocrats operating these nations.
He did say the administration’s official coverage on Ukraine could be to attempt to finish the conflict that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia began, and that leaders in each Kyiv and Moscow would want to make concessions. U.S. officers say Russia has drawn its allies and companions into the conflict, counting on North Korea for troops and arms, Iran for weapons and coaching, and China for a rebuilding of the Russian protection industrial base.
Rubio’s stance on Israel and Gaza is firmly inside a overseas coverage consensus in Washington.
Mr. Rubio defended Israel’s conduct within the conflict in Gaza, blaming Hamas for utilizing civilians as human shields and calling the deaths of tens of hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza, most of them non-combatants, “one of many horrible issues about conflict.”
He expressed concern about threats to Israel’s safety. “You can’t coexist with armed components at your border who search your destruction and evisceration, as a state. You simply can’t,” he mentioned.
When requested whether or not he believed Israel’s annexing Palestinian territory could be opposite to peace and safety within the Center East, Mr. Rubio didn’t give a direct reply, calling it “a really advanced concern.”
Mr. Rubio’s listening to was about two hours in when the committee’s chairman introduced that Israel and Hamas had sealed an settlement to start a brief cease-fire and partial hostage launch in Gaza. An preliminary hostage and cease-fire settlement, reached in November 2023, fell aside after per week.
Rubio helps U.S. alliances, regardless of Trump’s persistent assaults on them.
Mr. Rubio referred to as the North Atlantic Treaty Group, which Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized, “an important alliance” and insisted that Mr. Trump was a NATO supporter. However he additionally backed Mr. Trump’s argument {that a} robust NATO requires Europe to spend extra money on its collective protection.
America, he mentioned, should select whether or not it is going to serve “a major protection position or a backstop” to a self-reliant Europe.
Although many Senate colleagues praised him, Rubio has detractors.
Some outstanding Trump supporters stay distrustful of Mr. Rubio. They recall his vote to certify the 2020 election outcomes regardless of Mr. Trump’s false claims of election fraud. And so they contemplate Mr. Rubio’s overseas coverage report dangerously interventionist.
Mr. Rubio has lengthy been a hawkish voice on nationwide safety points, typically in ways in which conflict with Mr. Trump’s views, even when the concepts are typical ones amongst centrist Republican and Democratic politicians.
Up to now, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, has criticized Mr. Rubio for advocating aggressive American intervention abroad. Mr. Paul has been outspoken in pushing for much less use of U.S. troops overseas and is skeptical about whether or not financial sanctions can result in constructive outcomes.
On Wednesday, Mr. Paul pointedly requested Mr. Rubio whether or not he noticed any approach to work with China slightly then persisting in assaults on Beijing, and he additionally questioned the knowledge of many American and European policymakers who insisted that Ukraine have to be admitted to NATO.
