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.
Every 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.”
Each nominee requires 51 votes to secure confirmation in the Senate. But Democrats can delay votes by several days if they refuse to fast-track them to the floor.
“We will neither rubber-stamp nominees who we feel are grossly unqualified, nor will we reflexively oppose nominees that deserve serious consideration,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., outlining the Democrats’ philosophy on Trump picks.
Senate committees also voted to advance four other Trump nominees Monday.
The Intelligence Committee voted 14-3 to send John Ratcliffe’s nomination to be CIA director to the full Senate, a spokesperson for the committee said. It's not clear he will be fast-tracked to the floor.
The Armed Services Committee voted 14-13, along party lines, for Pete Hegseth’s nomination to be defense secretary. He faces fierce Democratic opposition.
And the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to advance Russell Vought's nomination for White House budget director, 8-7, and Kristi Noem's nomination for homeland security secretary, 13-2.
The nominations that get majority votes in committee will be sent to the full Senate. From there, it’ll take agreements among all senators to allow floor votes on any of them.
The Senate has a tradition of prioritizing votes on national security nominees under new administrations.
On Jan. 20, 2021, Avril Haines, President Joe Biden's pick to be director of national intelligence, was confirmed. And on Jan. 20, 2017, several of Trump’s nominees were confirmed, including John Kelly to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
Ultimately, Thune predicted, all of Trump's picks can be confirmed.
“I think they all have a path to get there,” he said. “Now, some haven’t had their confirmation hearings yet, so I always reserve judgment until they come out of the committee, because that’s where they get the hard questions. And I think it’s important that that process play out, and what I’ve guaranteed is a fair process.”
