By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Monday unanimously confirmed Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a China hawk and staunch backer of Israel, as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state.
The Senate backed Rubio by a vote of 99-0, days after the long-term member of the Senate foreign relations and intelligence committees sailed through his friendly confirmation hearing.
Rubio became the first of Trump’s cabinet nominees to be confirmed by the Senate, just hours after the president was sworn in for a second White House term.
Additional votes on Trump nominees were expected this week.
Rubio, 53, is a harsh critic of China and an advocate for Israel. The son of immigrants from Cuba, he has also pushed for tough measures against the Communist-ruled island and its allies, especially the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
During his confirmation hearing, he warned that the U.S. must change course to avoid becoming more reliant on China, and promised a robust foreign policy focused on American interests.
Rubio also said it should be U.S. policy that the war in Ukraine must end. He said reaching an agreement to stop the fighting would involve concessions from both Moscow and Kyiv, and he suggested that Ukraine would have to give up its goal of regaining all the territory Russia has taken in the last decade.
Rubio is the first person of Hispanic origin to serve as the nation’s top diplomat.
Trump began announcing his selections for cabinet positions almost as soon as he won his second term as president on Nov. 5. His supporters had clamored for the Senate to confirm all of his picks as quickly as possible but some faced tough questioning about their experience and qualifications even from members of his own Republican party.
(Reporting Patricia Zengerle, Simon Lewis, Richard Cowan and Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by David Gregorio)
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