Rubio set to face tough questions in Congress
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will testify this week before his former colleagues in the US Congress, some of whom have said they regret voting to confirm the ex-senator because he has not stood up to President Donald Trump. The Senate voted 99-0 to confirm the Florida Republican senator as the nation's highest diplomat on January 20, as Democrats joined Trump's Republicans in giving the president his first permanent second-term cabinet member just hours after Trump was sworn in. During his friendly Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on January 15, Rubio promised a robust foreign policy focused on American interests, echoing Trump's "America First" approach to global affairs. Some Democrats who backed Rubio in January have said they regret their votes, as Trump has seized more control of the federal government than any modern president, including cutting funding plans that had been approved by Congress. At the hearing, Rubio is likely to face tough questions about the decimation of foreign aid — Rubio was an advocate of such aid during his 14 years in the Senate - while slashing staff at the State Department and US Agency for International Development, which is being folded into the State Department.
Senators are also likely to grill Rubio on Trump's plans to unwind Syria sanctions, Rubio's role in the administration's immigration crackdown, the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and efforts to end the war in Ukraine. He may also face some questions over Trump's suggestions that Canada could become the 51st US state and that the US could acquire Greenland, which have angered some close US allies.
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the foreign relations committee, said the administration's policies had made it more difficult to compete with China, noting that Beijing is increasing its spending on diplomacy and providing humanitarian aid in areas where the US abruptly terminated programmes.
"Beijing is making the case that they are a more reliable, supportive partner than the United States," Shaheen said in remarks prepared for the hearing. Rubio has long been known as a China hawk.
A few Democrats, including foreign relations committee members Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, have said publicly their votes to confirm Rubio were a mistake.
Republicans on the other hand have praised Rubio, who has become a crucial figure in the Trump administration. He currently is secretary of state and Trump's acting national security adviser, as well as administrator of the US Agency for International Development and the acting archivist of the United States.
Rubio is the first person since Henry Kissinger in the 1970s to hold the positions of secretary of state and national security adviser simultaneously.
"When I have a problem, I call up Marco. He gets it solved," Trump said earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Rubio will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at 10 am EDT (14:00 GMT), and the Senate Appropriations Committee's State and Foreign Operations subcommittee at 2 pm EDT.
On Wednesday, he is due to testify before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee at 10 am EDT and the House Appropriations subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programmes at 2 pm EDT. — Reuters
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