On Jan. 21, president-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office for the second time. Trump’s first administration was concerning, but for the most part his Cabinet picks were viewed as adults in the room. Trump appointed distinguished generals James Mattis and John Kelly as his homeland security secretary and secretary of state, respectively. There were a few billionaires sprinkled in, as well as a couple of peculiar choices, like Department of Housing and Urban Development head Ben Carson. But mostly Trump’s appointments seemed qualified and confirmable.
Unlike others in his Cabinet cohort, Rubio is actually a pretty responsible and solid choice, even if he will make some MAGA Republicans unhappy.
Things are looking a lot different this time. Trump’s picks this week include deeply unserious and unqualified candidates such as Matt Gaetz (prior to his abrupt resignation from Congress), Tulsi Gabbard and Fox News host Pete Hegseth. But that still does not mean that all of the president-elect’s picks are poor choices. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is likely to become the next secretary of state. And unlike others in his Cabinet cohort, Rubio is actually a pretty responsible and solid choice, even if he will make some MAGA Republicans unhappy.
From a political perspective, Rubio’s selection suggests Trump is willing to look past (at least some) previous political attacks. Few politicos have forgotten the lurid comment Rubio made about the size of Trump’s hands during the 2016 Republican primary. Then again, Trump was relentless in calling him “little Marco.” Rubio eventually fell into line. But then again, so did nearly every other Republican.
Rubio also, arguably, has at least some of the credentials and qualifications necessary for the position of secretary of state. He has been elected to the U.S. Senate three times, starting in 2010. He was also a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Currently, Rubio serves as vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and is a senior member of the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Rubio has worked with Democrats in the past, another good sign. In 2013, he was part of a group of four Democratic and four Republican senators known as the “Gang of Eight” that proposed comprehensive immigration legislation. The bipartisan legislation passed the Senate with a strong majority. But it failed to advance in the House of Representatives.
As vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, Rubio has also proven himself willing to take politics out of the equation when it comes to national security. He worked with committee Chairman Mark R. Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, to release a “Bipartisan Report Detailing Foreign Intelligence Threats.” The committee also successfully issued a joint statement on the "national security threat posed by China.”
As vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, Rubio has also proven himself willing to take politics out of the equation when it comes to national security.
There’s also plenty of recent precedent for nominating senators for this role. President Barack Obama named two U.S. senators to head up his State Department: New York’s Hillary Clinton in 2009 and Massachusetts’ John Kerry. Clinton, a former first lady, had fought a contentious primary against then-Sen. Obama during the 2008 presidential nomination primary. Kerry was first elected to Senate in 1984 and went on to serve as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was also the 2004 Democratic nominee for president, ultimately losing to George W. Bush.
Trump, like all presidents before him, gets to pick his Cabinet. That’s his privilege as the duly elected chief executive. And, thanks to the GOP’s new Senate majority, most of those Cabinet picks will likely sail through the confirmation process. Rubio should be one of them.
But given his track record, Trump’s foreign policy is also likely to be controversial. It will be dissected by policymakers and pundits and, perhaps, legal scholars. We cannot control what new and improved ideas Trump tries to implement. But we can hope that Rubio will take inspiration from those same adults in the room who helped control some of Trump’s darkest impulses in 2016.
