Marco Rubio sails through nomination hearing for US secretary of state

While some U.S. congressional hearings for nominations of top government officials can be tense and contentious, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s questioning of Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. State Department, was the opposite. Wednesday’s hearing, which spanned about five hours, made clear that Rubio will be confirmed as secretary of state, with both Republicans and Democrats praising the Florida Republican senator, considered a more mainstream pick for the post, who until recently served on the committee that questioned him. Rubio, who would be America’s top diplomat, outlined his and the incoming administration’s approach to foreign affairs as one focused on the U.S. national interest after years of prioritizing the global order. “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, every policy we pursue, must be justified by the answer to one of three questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Or does it make America more prosperous?” he said, adding that “placing our core national interest above all else is not isolationism.” Rubio, who is Catholic, also said his faith will guide him on the job and that people of his faith are called to “promote the cause of peace and the common good, and that task has gotten harder than it’s ever been.” Most of the questions focused on broader foreign policy objectives, with a particular emphasis on the U.S.-China relationship, Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, and the Israel-Hamas conflict. Issues related to humanitarian aid, international organizations, and Africa policy also came up. Here’s what you need to know. Funding When asked how he would ensure that Trump’s government efficiency mandate would strengthen the State Department and not deplete its functions, Rubio responded that efficiency isn’t just about saving money but about improving performance. On that front, he said he would like to continue work that began during the Biden administration to see how technology, including artificial intelligence, can be used to improve productivity at the agency, especially with its more customer-facing services such as providing passports and visas. For anyone searching for clear signals on what sort of budget Rubio might fight for, there wasn’t much to go on in this hearing. “One of the best ways to combat that is to be present, to be there, to show what we do, and to brag about what we do.” --— U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. State Department. International organizations During his first term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from several U.N. organizations, including UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and the U.N. Human Rights Council. Rubio was asked about his approach to international organizations — and the risks of the U.S. leaving and giving adversaries a void to step into. “I am not against multilateral organizations so long as that, or any foreign arrangement we have, serves the national interest of the United States,” Rubio said, adding that no foreign entity or multilateral or international organization should have veto power over U.S. national security interests. “Each of these [organizations] will require a serious examination as we work through and a justification to Congress about why we're no longer funding it or we're no longer participating,” he said. Rubio said the Chinese “have very aggressively” worked to curry favor and secure votes at the U.N. through their investments in countries around the world. Countries often say they would prefer U.S. investment but it often isn’t being offered, Rubio argued. The result is they are left with Chinese investment “even though it comes with strong strings attached, that include things like debt diplomacy or debt traps, and expectations of diplomatic cooperation at these international forums.” Disinformation and humble brags Rubio said he’s long been concerned about foreign disinformation, which is promoting conspiracy theories and influencing views of the U.S. in Africa and the Western Hemisphere. “One of the best ways to combat that is to be present, to be there, to show what we do, and to brag about what we do,” he said. “One of the things that frustrates me the most is there are literally programs within the USAID where they do not allow us to label it as made in America or a gift of the American people because it might offend someone locally.” He said it was important for people to know what the U.S. is doing to help their communities and that the U.S. was not good enough at promoting its work. Africa With its rapid anticipated growth and booming share of the global population, Africa presents an “extraordinary” economic opportunity for the U.S., Rubio said, although he added that it was too soon to say how much priority would be given to the continent. In the past, U.S. engagement has heavily focused on counterterrorism, and while that remains important, he said other priorities should be pursued as well. He said one issue that doesn’t get enough attention is malaria, which “is not simply a health crisis, or a humanitarian crisis …. it has deep economic implications.” “The cost-benefit of an investment leveraging private partnerships to deal with things like malaria pays extraordinary dividends, if appropriately done and channeled,” he said. Energy Energy should be one of the centerpieces of U.S. economic diplomacy, Rubio said, responding to a question about whether the U.S. would pursue an all-of-the-above energy strategy that included coal and natural gas. “One of the things you can do to help a country become more stable and then more prosperous is access to reliable and affordable energy,” he said, adding that it is important beyond daily use but for expanding manufacturing and supporting new technologies. Sudan Rubio acknowledged that a genocide was underway in Sudan by groups “that are being funded by nations that we have alliances and partnerships with.” Many reports indicate that the United Arab Emirates has been funneling money and weapons to the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary force fighting the Sudanese army in the country's civil war, which the U.S. has accused of perpetuating the genocide. Rubio called for pragmatic engagement with the UAE and said the U.S. should use that relationship to send a message about its role in funding the genocide. What else? Rubio, the child of Cuban immigrants, has had a long interest in and strong opinions about Latin America and the Caribbean. He called Haiti a complex challenge that won’t be fixed overnight but said that any progress has to start with stability and security. He credited Kenya’s role in helping to secure the country and said creating security is “not going to come from a U.S. military intervention.” He said Nicaragua’s democracy has been “completely wiped out” and the government is directly contributing to the U.S. migration crisis. He criticized Biden’s policies on Venezuela and said that all of the concessions the U.S. made to incentivize an election that turned out to be a sham should be reexamined. He also said he supports efforts to promote women’s economic empowerment that were spearheaded by Ivanka Trump in the last administration, even though she does not plan to be in government during Trump’s second term. When asked about the Global Fragility Act — which was approved during Trump’s first term and mandated that government agencies work together on a new integrated approach for fragile and conflict-affected states — he said he wants to look at where the work stands and that getting ahead of conflict can save the U.S. “a lot of headaches, a lot of danger, and a lot of money.”