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.
“I believe you have the skills and are well qualified to serve as secretary of state,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of Hampshire, said in her opening remarks.
The notable lack of tension at the hearing indicated that Mr. Rubio would almost certainly be confirmed quickly.
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 pointed to those four powers – what some call an “axis” – in his opening remarks.
They “sow 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,” he said. As permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China and Russia have veto power over U.N. resolutions.
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.
He did say the administration’s 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.
Rubio’s stance on Israel and Gaza is firmly within a foreign policy consensus in Washington.
Mr. Rubio defended Israel’s 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, “one of the terrible things about war.”
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