Rubio unanimously confirmed as secretary of State, becoming Trump's first Cabinet official

The Senate on Monday unanimously confirmed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as America's 72nd secretary of State, putting in place the first member of President Trump's Cabinet on the day of his inauguration.

Rubio’s confirmation vote passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, 99-0. Rubio also was able to cast a vote for himself.

“No one on this body can doubt that Marco Rubio is an intelligent man with remarkable understanding of American foreign policy and a very deep commitment to the American dream,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in remarks on the Senate floor.

Rubio’s Senate seat will be filled by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.

As the son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio is the first Latino American to serve as top diplomat.

A 14-year veteran of the Senate, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Rubio’s nomination as secretary of State brought relief to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and America’s allies abroad concerned over Trump’s unpredictable and chaotic approach to foreign affairs.

Alongside Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Rubio co-sponsored legislation that would prevent any president from withdrawing from NATO, a move viewed as safeguarding America’s position in the alliance in the face of Trump’s threats to withdraw the U.S.

But Rubio is not expected to act as a barrier to Trump's foreign policy desires.

The new president in recent weeks has telegraphed imperialist goals, expressing his desire to assume ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, as well as talk of making Canada the 51st state and taking over the Panama Canal from Panama.

“The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory,” Trump said during his inauguration address.

He singled out retaking control of the Panama Canal in his speech as an imperative to counter China’s influence in the strategic waterway. Panama’s president has rejected that the canal is under foreign influence.

Rubio, during his confirmation hearing, said that the presence of Chinese companies on either side of the canal has raised concern from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and poses a national security risk to the U.S. — in one example of how he is planning to thread the needle of explaining some of Trump’s threats.

“In reality a foreign power today possesses, through their companies — which we know are not independent — the ability to turn the canal into a choke point in a moment of conflict and that is a direct threat to the national interest and security of the United States,” he said.

Rubio, viewed as a China hawk, is sending early signals of his focus on countering Beijing’s global influence ambitions, scheduling bilateral and group meetings in Washington with American allies on the front lines of Chinese aggression the day after the inauguration.

This includes a bilateral meeting with Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and a joint meeting with the foreign ministers of Japan, Australia and India, the so-called Quad.

The foreign ministers were present at Trump’s inauguration Monday at the Capitol.

The group's meeting demonstrates “an iron-clad commitment” to close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters Sunday in Washington, Reuters reported.

Wong posted a photo from Trump’s inauguration ceremony at Capitol Hill alongside Iwaya and India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. Also in the photo was Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg.

The meetings are expected to take place Tuesday, a nod to the confidence that Rubio’s confirmation vote would move through quickly.

Rubio has called for making the State Department “highly relevant again,” but it’s unclear how much influence the State Department will have in a Trump administration where the president has appointed a slew of special envoys to take on specific foreign policy challenges.

Trump’s pick for special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, already has a win under his belt by working hand-in-hand with the Biden administration to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas. Trump has also appointed a special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, part of his push to end the nearly three-year war.

And Trump has appointed Richard Grenell, his former ambassador to Germany, whose name was floated as a potential secretary of State, for the undefined role of presidential envoy for special missions.

Rubio steps into a role filled by two people during Trump's first term: Rex Tillerson, a former oil executive who was fired by Trump after 423 days in the role, and then Mike Pompeo, a former House member and CIA director under Trump.

Rubio was a fierce Trump critic during the contest for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. But he has evolved to a staunch loyalist, a shift cemented when Trump chose him for secretary of State one week after he won the election. He is widely seen as a potential presidential contender again in 2028.

—Updated at 7:16 p.m.

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