Marco Rubio sworn in as US Secretary of State after 99-0 Senate vote

Marco Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, became US Secretary of State in January 2025, at the very start of Donald Trump's second term. The Senate confirmed him by 99 votes to 0 on Inauguration Day, 20 January, and he took office the following day. It was the first cabinet-level confirmation of the new administration.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, was the first Latino to lead the State Department. He had served in the Senate since 2011 and sat on its foreign relations and intelligence committees. He was known as a hawk on China, Cuba and Venezuela, even though he had once been a sharp critic of Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries.

The unanimous vote was unusual in a polarised Washington and suggested that Democrats saw him as a relatively conventional choice. His appointment mattered because he would carry out a foreign policy driven closely by the president, covering Ukraine, the Middle East and trade tensions with China. Later in 2025 he also took on the role of national security adviser, making him one of the most influential figures in Trump's foreign policy.