Senate votes to confirm Marco Rubio as Trump's secretary of state

The Senate hit the ground running Monday with newly inaugurated President Donald Trump’s nominations, confirming Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

WASHINGTON — The Republican-led Senate hit the ground running Monday with newly inaugurated President Donald Trump’s nominations, confirming Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

With cooperation from Democrats, GOP leaders moved quickly to bring Rubio, currently a senator from Florida, to the floor for a vote after he was unanimously reported out the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He sailed through by a vote of 99-0.

The vote caps a 14-year career for Rubio in the Senate. He ran for president in 2016, losing the Republican nomination to Trump. The two mended fences in subsequent years, and Rubio has embraced many of Trump's ideas.

Marco Rubio on Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C.Kevin Dietsch / Getty ImagesEvery new president since Bill Clinton has had at least one Cabinet-level nominee confirmed on Inauguration Day, and the Rubio vote continues that trend.

“We have a job to do, and advice and consent is part of it. So, we’re going to take that role seriously. Our senators take that role seriously, Republican and Democrat, and we will,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Monday on NBC’s “TODAY” show. “But we also understand that we have a job to do, and I think it was spelled out very clearly by the voters in November.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-nominees-senate-vote-confirm-rcna187974

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