(Adnkronos) – A few hours after Donald Trump was sworn in, Marco Rubio was confirmed as Secretary of State by a unanimous vote of the Senate, becoming the first actual member of the new administration. At the same time, a much more controversial appointment, that of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, also received the crucial green light in committee. John Ratcliffe, chosen as head of the CIA, also won the support of the Intelligence Committee.
He won the vote of all 99 sitting senators, the Florida Republican, considered a moderate and therefore the least controversial among the members of the next administration. In the confirmation hearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee, during which the 53-year-old Republican said he intends to pursue an “America first” policy, Democrats raised very few objections.
The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio will be the first Hispanic Secretary of State. Elected to the Senate in 2010, he has a solid 14-year track record on the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees. He hasn’t always had an idyllic relationship with Trump: in 2016 he was one of many who tried to stop the tycoon, who made fun of him by calling him “little Marco,” from advancing in the Republican primaries.
The hearing of the former Fox News anchorman, who passed the committee’s scrutiny by a majority of 14 Republican votes to 13 Democrats, was quite different. However, he received the crucial vote of Joni Ernest, the Iowa Republican who had suspended judgment on the confirmation of Hegseth, whose appointment had sparked a wave of controversy for his positions close to the Christian far right, the accusation of sexual assault and allegations from former colleagues of serious alcohol problems.
Now his nomination, for which Trump and his allies, Elon Musk at the helm, have fought by putting pressure on undecided Republicans, will have to be confirmed in the courtroom, where Hegseth can afford to lose the vote of only three Republicans.
Ratcliffe, on the other hand, received votes from several Democrats. He received the green light from the Intelligence Committee as the next head of the CIA, with 14 votes in favor and 3 against. Indeed, the committee chairman, Tom Cotton, and the Democratic group leader, Mark Warner, issued a joint statement calling for the appointment to be ratified as soon as possible in the courtroom. “Our world is too dangerous to delay the Senate confirmation of the CIA chief,” the two senators said.
