{"id":216152,"date":"2025-01-15T21:37:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T21:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/15\/takeaways-from-marco-rubios-senate-hearing\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T21:37:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T21:37:05","slug":"takeaways-from-marco-rubios-senate-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/15\/takeaways-from-marco-rubios-senate-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Takeaways From Marco Rubio\u2019s Senate Hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/15\/multimedia\/15dc-rubio-takeaways-tzph\/15dc-rubio-takeaways-tzph-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Takeaways From Marco Rubio\u2019s Senate Hearing\" title=\"Takeaways From Marco Rubio\u2019s Senate Hearing\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida named by Donald J. Trump to be the next secretary of state, was warmly welcomed by senators from both parties at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. He has served for years on the Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees in the Senate, and is known as a lawmaker devoted to the details of foreign policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI believe you have the skills and are well qualified to serve as secretary of state,\u201d Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of Hampshire, said in her opening remarks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The notable lack of tension at the hearing indicated that Mr. Rubio would almost certainly be confirmed quickly.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-6fc7c1d5\">Republican and Democratic senators agree on the biggest U.S. challenges.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">From the lines of questioning, it was clear what senators want Mr. Rubio and the Trump administration to focus on: China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Mr. Rubio himself <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/15\/us\/politics\/rubio-trump-china-russia-iran-north-korea.html\" title=\"\">pointed to those four powers<\/a> \u2014 what some call an \u201caxis\u201d \u2014 in his opening remarks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They \u201csow chaos and instability and align with and fund radical terror groups, then hide behind their veto power at the United Nations and the threat of nuclear war,\u201d he said. As permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China and Russia have veto power over U.N. resolutions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Rubio repeatedly singled out the Chinese Communist Party for criticism, and, unlike Mr. Trump, he had no praise for any of the autocrats running those nations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He did say the administration\u2019s official policy on Ukraine would be to try to end the war that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia started, and that leaders in both Kyiv and Moscow would need to make concessions. U.S. officials say Russia has drawn its allies and partners into the war, relying on North Korea for troops and arms, Iran for weapons and training, and China for a rebuilding of the Russian defense industrial base.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-33cb2a3e\">Rubio\u2019s stance on Israel and Gaza is firmly within a foreign policy consensus in Washington.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Rubio defended Israel\u2019s conduct in the war in Gaza, blaming Hamas for using civilians as human shields and calling the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, most of them non-combatants, \u201cone of the terrible things about war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He expressed concern about threats to Israel\u2019s security. \u201cYou cannot coexist with armed elements at your border who seek your destruction and evisceration, as a state. You just can\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When asked whether he believed Israel\u2019s annexing Palestinian territory would be contrary to peace and security in the Middle East, Mr. Rubio did not give a direct answer, calling it \u201ca very complex issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Rubio\u2019s hearing was about two hours in when the committee\u2019s chairman announced that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2025\/01\/15\/world\/israel-hamas-cease-fire-deal-gaza\" title=\"\">Israel and Hamas had sealed an agreement<\/a> to begin a temporary cease-fire and partial hostage release in Gaza. An initial hostage and cease-fire agreement, reached in November 2023, fell apart after a week.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-61b132a1\">Rubio supports U.S. alliances, despite Trump\u2019s persistent attacks on them.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Rubio called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized, \u201ca very important alliance\u201d and insisted that Mr. Trump was a NATO supporter. But he also backed Mr. Trump\u2019s argument that a strong NATO requires Europe to spend more money on its collective defense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States, he said, must choose whether it will serve \u201ca primary defense role or a backstop\u201d to a self-reliant Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-26f23182\">Though many Senate colleagues praised him, Rubio has detractors.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some prominent Trump supporters remain distrustful of Mr. Rubio. They recall his vote to certify the 2020 election results despite Mr. Trump\u2019s false claims of election fraud. And they consider Mr. Rubio\u2019s foreign policy record dangerously interventionist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Rubio has long been a hawkish voice on national security issues, often in ways that clash with Mr. Trump\u2019s views, even if the ideas are conventional ones among centrist Republican and Democratic politicians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the past, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, has criticized Mr. Rubio for advocating aggressive American intervention overseas. Mr. Paul has been outspoken in pushing for less use of U.S. troops abroad and is skeptical about whether economic sanctions can lead to positive outcomes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Wednesday, Mr. Paul pointedly asked Mr. Rubio whether he saw any way to work with China rather then persisting in attacks on Beijing, and he also questioned the wisdom of many American and European policymakers who insisted that Ukraine must be admitted to NATO.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/15\/us\/politics\/marco-rubio-senate-hearing-takeaways.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida named by Donald J. Trump to be the next secretary of state, was warmly welcomed by senators from both parties at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. He has served for years on the Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees in the Senate, and is known as a lawmaker devoted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/15\/multimedia\/15dc-rubio-takeaways-tzph\/15dc-rubio-takeaways-tzph-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[163575,163203,1288,3096,86565,209,170339,170530,2686,5183,52,128437,163486,128440],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216154,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216152\/revisions\/216154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}