Protesters Briefly Interrupt Rubio Confirmation Hearing

In contrast to Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's contentious confirmation hearing Tuesday, there were few fireworks Wednesday as former Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., faced his colleagues and friends on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

While Rubio's opening statement was interrupted by protesters who were quickly removed from the room, his confirmation hearing to be secretary of state was expected to be one of the smoothest of President-elect Donald Trump's nominees.

"Placing our core national interests above all else is not isolationism," Rubio said, speaking to Trump's America first agenda. "It is the common-sense realization that a foreign policy centered on our national interest is not some outdated relic.

"The postwar global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us."

Trump has an "unmistakable mandate from the voters," Rubio said.

"They want a strong America," he said. "Engaged in the world. But guided by a clear objective, to promote peace abroad, and security and prosperity here at home."

Rubio served 14 years on the committee and is expected to sail through full Senate confirmation next week.

A China hawk and staunch backer of Israel, Rubio, 53, won Democrat support as soon as Trump announced his nomination to become the top U.S. diplomat.

China with President Joe Biden's appeasement policy has "lied, cheated, hacked, and stolen their way to global superpower status, at our expense," Rubio said in his statement.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, would be the first person of Hispanic origin to serve as the top U.S. diplomat. He won a reputation for bipartisanship on national security issues as a member since 2011 of the foreign relations and Senate intelligence committees.

"I believe you have the skills and are well qualified to serve as secretary of state," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the ranking senator on the committee, said in her opening remarks.

Shaheen also said she wanted Rubio to lay out the administration's plans for Ukraine and to hear from him on the Middle East.

Rubio is known as one of Congress' leading advocates for strong policies to compete with China, one of the few strongly bipartisan issues in Washington.

His support for Hong Kong democracy protesters earned him Chinese sanctions in 2020, meaning he could be the first secretary of state under active Chinese travel restrictions.

China's record on human rights, a contentious issue between the countries, has been a focus for Rubio.

Some of Trump's other national security nominees have faced strong criticism, with even some Republicans saying they wanted more information about Hegseth, tapped for secretary of defense, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, Trump's choice for director of national intelligence.

Rubio had faced some criticism of his own. Some of Trump's core supporters saw him as too traditional and internationalist, and out of step with Trump's more isolationist "America First" approach to government. Rubio was also one of Trump's rivals in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

But his views recently have aligned more closely with the party leader's.

In April 2024, Rubio was one of 15 Republican senators to vote against a big military aid package to help Ukraine resist Russia, although he voted in favor of aid to Ukraine in May 2022. Trump has been critical of Democrat President Joe Biden's continuing military assistance for Ukraine as it fights Russian invaders.

Rubio has said Kyiv needs to seek a negotiated settlement with Russia rather than focus on regaining all territory Moscow has taken in the past decade.

Trump's choice of a vehement critic of Cuba's communist government to be top diplomat also signaled that he will continue his first-term policies of rolling back former Democrat President Barack Obama's efforts to ease relations with the island.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday he would relax sanctions on Cuba, part of a broad set of steps he expects to lead to a release of political prisoners.

Rubio has strongly backed Israel. Last year, he said he would not call for a ceasefire in Gaza and believed Israel should destroy "every element" of Palestinian militant group Hamas. "These people are vicious animals," he added.

If his hearing goes as well as expected, Rubio could become secretary of state on Monday, the day Trump is inaugurated for a second term.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.