The Senate voted unanimously to confirm Sen. Marco Rubio’s as secretary of state on Monday, making him the first confirmed member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet in his second administration.
All 99 senators voted in favor of Rubio, including Rubio himself. There’s currently one vacancy in the chamber due to Vice President J.D. Vance resigning in mid-January. Rubio is expected to resign his position in the Senate shortly.
Rubio’s experience as the top Republican on Senate Intelligence Committee gave his resume the necessary credentials to earn the public backing of a number of Democrats.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee had voted Monday to advance Rubio’s nomination to the Senate floor on a unanimous vote, 22 to 0, and Idaho Sen. James Risch, chairman of the committee, had said he expected to call Rubio’s nomination up for the full Senate later Monday.
The State Department on Monday was charging full steam ahead with preparations for his first full day as America’s top diplomat.
Two State Department officials said that assuming all went to plan, Rubio would give a speech to mark his arrival on Tuesday. He will also meet both one on one and as a group with the foreign ministers of India, Australia, and Japan — the three countries that, along with the United States, make up the “Quad,” a diplomatic partnership seen as critical to countering China’s influence in the Pacific.
