The U.S. Senate confirmed Marco Rubio as the 72nd secretary of state on Monday.
The former senator from Florida passed by a vote of 99-0, becoming the first of U.S. President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks to make it through Senate confirmation.
Trump formally nominated his cabinet on Monday afternoon in his first official act upon resuming the presidency after he took the oath of office.
Before the vote on the Senate floor, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations also approved Rubio unanimously.
At his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Rubio said he expected Trump’s second term to be “perhaps the most pro-Israel administration in American history” and promised to overturn a slew of Biden administration policies that critics said were unfavorable to the Jewish state.
“There are opportunities now in the Middle East that did not exist 90 days ago,” Rubio said. “There are now factors at play in the Middle East that I think we can build upon and may open the door to extraordinary and historic opportunities, not just to provide for Israel’s security but ultimately begin to confront some of these other factors.”
Rubio also said he would overturn sanctions on Israelis living in Judea and Samaria and would more strictly enforce sanctions against terrorist groups than the Biden administration.
