Latest news with #SecretaryOfState
Bloomberg
a day ago
- General
- Bloomberg
Rubio Ramps Up Pressure on Harvard With Expanded Visa Scrutiny
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ramped up pressure on Harvard University on Friday with an order to focus even more scrutiny on the social-media profiles of any foreigner who seeks a visa to visit the school. In a cable sent to embassies worldwide on Friday, Rubio called for consular officers to conduct 'a complete screening of the online presence' for any applicant who wants to visit Harvard, including but not limited to 'prospective students, students, faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakers, and tourists.'
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
State Dept broad reorganization plan submitted to Congress
WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the State Department submitted a notification to Congress on a broad reorganization plan to create a "more agile Department, better equipped to promote America's interests and keep Americans safe across the world." "Since my first day as Secretary, I have said that this Department must move at the speed of relevancy and, in April announced a broad reorganization of the Department to better achieve that goal," Rubio said in a statement.
CBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Trump administration to 'aggressively' revoke visas for Chinese students
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the U.S. aims 'to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students' and to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from China and Hong Kong.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Letters: Presidential oath or not?; Spay/neuter your animals
President Trump betrayed his oath of office by pretending not to understand his job. In January 2025 (and January 2017), Trump took the presidential oath, pledging allegiance to the Constitution: 'I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.' Less than four months later, Trump either forgot his solemn obligation — or never meant it. When asked by journalist Kristen Welker whether he agrees with Secretary of State Rubio that everyone — citizens and noncitizens — deserves due process, he replied, 'I don't know. I'm not, I'm not a lawyer. I don't know.' Welker reminded him that the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution ensures due process. He repeated that he doesn't know. Finally, when given a chance to correct himself and speak directly about his obligation, he again showed his failure to do his job, formalized in his public oath of office. Asked, 'Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?' he replied 'I don't know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me ...' Democracy cannot survive when the president openly dismisses the Constitution, the foundation of our great nation — and when Republican sycophants, who took similar oaths, allow such violations to go unchecked. We must act before our Constitution is meaningless. Marilyn Goldfarb, Boalsburg To people in Bellefonte and adjoining Spring Township (and of course everyone): Please, please spay/neuter your animals. We are trying to get friendly with a litter of kittens so that we can get them fixed, checked and adopted before they are too feral. But there is another litter just a couple houses away! These are adorable, I know, but the mom and kittens need to be fixed so that there is not an endless supply of feral cats and hawk feed. This is a litter of five kittens — they seem quite healthy, but we don't need another five feral cats around here. We don't mind if you let your cat roam — this seems quite natural — but get them spayed/neutered. Centre County PAWS can help with vouchers to save of the cost involved. Thank you. Deborah Gabriel, Bellefonte Recently, the Penn State Board of Trustees amended their procedure for electing alumnus representatives, supposedly to make it easier for alumni to run. But nominations will now go through a nominations committee to see if the candidates are 'qualified.' Trustee Gursahaney stated: 'We need the right kind of people on the board.' The right kind of people? Does that mean that the people we have chosen as alumni are not 'the right kind of people?' I guess the board does not trust the alumni to decide who should be eligible to represent them. Let that sink in. The board does not trust the alumni to make decisions that are in the best interests of this great university. Shame! Shame! This may well be due to the recent disagreements between some alumni representatives and the executive board. Disagreements and disputes are not always a bad thing. As NCIS's Gibbs notes in his Rule 51: 'Sometimes — you're wrong.' Disagreements often help a board make better decisions. Though I was president of a award-winning alumni chapter, among many other alumni positions, I suspect I would not be considered the 'right kind of person,' as I have voiced my displeasure in the past with some board decisions. Thus, my giving has and will go elsewhere. Kenneth B Gilbert, Columbus, Ohio The recent column crediting President Trump for a reduction in gun violence misrepresents both the facts and the recent actions of this administration. Gun homicides dropped 38% by the end of 2022, as significant investments in violence prevention programs began. This administration taking credit before they even took office is insulting to the community leaders who hit the streets to save lives. Here are the facts: Trump eliminated the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, a hub for coordinating national strategies to reduce shootings and save lives. He reversed restrictions that kept guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. His administration cut grants to community violence organizations — many in Pennsylvania. These actions didn't make us safer — they made us more vulnerable. And, he recently ended a policy that held licensed gun dealers accountable when they knowingly violated public safety laws — potentially putting firearms in the hands of domestic abusers and individuals with a violent criminal record. Where will we be a year from now? The evidence suggests fewer graduations, more funerals. Fewer birthday parties, more empty chairs. We warned that Trump's rollback of common-sense protections threatens to flood communities with more firearms, reduce oversight and gut valuable community programs. This is a fact: enforcement of background checks and investment in community violence intervention are the keys to lasting safety. We should not thank a man who dismantled the protections we overwhelmingly support. If we want to keep crime rates trending down, we need leaders who put evidence, lives ahead of ideology. Adam Garber, Philadelphia. The author is the executive director of CeaseFirePA.
Fox News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
WATCH: Rubio on Dems saying they regret voting for him: 'Confirmation I'm doing a good job'
Print Close By Alec Schemmel Published May 21, 2025 Marco Rubio told Fox News that far-left Democrats espousing regret over voting to confirm him as secretary of state is likely just "confirmation" that he is doing a good job. Democrat Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen told Rubio during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing yesterday that he "regret[ted] voting" to confirm him as secretary of state after indicating as much on "Fox News Sunday" in March. Rubio shot back at the hearing that Van Hollen's regret just proves he is doing a good job, and he subsequently told Fox News that the same goes for other Democrats who are expressing regret over their nod of approval to him earlier this year when he was confirmed by the Senate 99-0. "In some cases, depending on … whoever you're talking about and what they stand for, the fact that they don't like what I'm doing is a confirmation I'm doing a good job," Rubio said. "That's how I feel about it." ADAM SCHIFF TELLS EPA'S LEE ZELDIN HE'LL CAUSE CANCER AFTER SHOUTFEST: 'COULD GIVE A RAT'S A--' A growing number of Democrats are coming out against Rubio despite voting to confirm him, with the bulk of the criticism describing him as a sell-out to the Trump administration. "I don't recognize Secretary Rubio," Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., added during the Tuesday Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing with Van Hollen, noting that in the past she had viewed him as "a bipartisan" and "pragmatic" person. "I'm not even mad anymore about your complicity in this administration's destruction of U.S. global leadership. I'm simply disappointed," Rosen said. DEMS WARN HOUSE REPUBLICANS WILL PAY PRICE AT BALLOT BOX FOR PASSING TRUMP'S 'BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL' Last week, Democrat Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz lamented that Rubio has aligned himself "so closely" with President Donald Trump. "President Trump's narrow and transactional view of the world is not news to anybody. But what is genuinely surprising to me is that Secretary Rubio is aligning himself so closely with it," Schatz said during a live event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations last week. "This is someone who, up until four months ago, was an internationalist. Someone who believed in America flexing its powers in all manners, but especially through foreign assistance," Schatz continued. "And yet, he is now responsible for the evisceration of the whole enterprise. He's a colleague. I voted for him. We talk all the time. But what I'm trying to understand is: What happened?" Schatz noted that he hopes to see Rubio "reemerge, reassert himself and save the enterprise." Rubio's supportive stance on Trump's foreign aid cuts, his defense of the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his alleged lack of action to help get him back to the U.S., his approach to the Russia-Ukraine war, and Rubio's decision to pull visas from foreign college students in the U.S. for stoking anti-Israel sentiment on university campuses are all issues Democrats have pointed to for why they regret voting to confirm Rubio. The secretary's alleged role in bringing white South African refugees to the U.S. was also something for which Rubio was chastised by Democrats during his Tuesday testimony on Capitol Hill. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "I think a lot of us thought that Marco Rubio was going to stand up to Donald Trump," Democrat Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said in March during an interview on CNN. "Marco Rubio has not, and that's been a great disappointment to many of his former colleagues in the Senate." Print Close URL
