Senate Confirms Rubio in 99 to 0 Vote, Cementing Trump’s First Official Cabinet Member

Now-former Florida senator pledged to target Iranian terror proxies, ICC during confirmation hearing

The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Marco Rubio as America’s new secretary of state on Monday evening, fast-tracking the now-former Florida senator through a confirmation process in which he gained broad backing from lawmakers in both parties.

Senators voted to confirm Rubio, who was first elected to represent the Sunshine State in the upper chamber in 2011, in a 99 to 0 vote. During his confirmation hearing last week, Rubio earned praise from both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he once served as a senior member.

Rubio takes over a State Department that aggressively pursued liberal policies under the Biden administration, including through diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that cost millions in taxpayer dollars. Rubio and President Donald Trump both vowed to rein in the diplomatic agency by refocusing it on what the newly installed White House described Monday as an “America-First foreign policy.”

Rubio is already scheduled to meet this week with the foreign ministers from top U.S. allies in India, Japan, and Australia. The discussions, officials told the Associated Press, are aimed toward combating China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. Rubio described China as a top foreign policy challenge when he appeared before the Senate last week. He also promised to more forcefully confront China’s mass human rights abuses, including most notably its oppression of the Uyghur population.

Rubio will play a critical role in shaping the Trump administration’s Middle East policies following four years of often public bickering between Israel and the Biden administration. Those policies are certain to include robust support for the Jewish state.

Rubio will immediately oversee a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which came after Trump promised to rain “hell” on Hamas if the hostages were not released.

“There are opportunities available in the Middle East that did not exist 90 days ago,” Rubio said during his Senate confirmation hearing, crediting Israel with fundamentally reshaping the region by wiping out Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iranian proxy groups.

In keeping with Trump’s pledge to eradicate wasteful spending and stop the American government’s embrace of left-wing policies, Rubio signaled his desire to abandon international institutions that pursue anti-Israel and anti-American policy. This includes the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is facing tough U.S. sanctions for trying to arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The ICC has done tremendous damage to its global credibility,” Rubio said last week. “This is a test run. This is a trial run to see, can we go after a head of state from a nation that’s not a member. If we can go after them and get it done with regards to Israel, they will apply that to the United States at some point.”

U.S. foreign assistance, Rubio added, “is not charity. Fealty to progressive politics became the benchmark for success. That view is diminishing very quickly.”

Ahead of Rubio confirmation, a large number of State Department diplomats vacated their posts at the Trump administration’s behest, including political appointees and career foreign service officers who served in senior roles under former president Joe Biden. A similar effort is reportedly underway at the White House National Security Council.