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Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday regarding his department’s 2026 budget request, advocating for major reforms at the State Department to deliver aid to those who need it and streamline approval processes.
"Everything we do has to make a stronger, safer or more prosperous. So we've undertaken a review of our foreign aid. And the reality is that there are many of these programs… Some are good programs. Some make all the sense in the world, and we wanted to pursue those programs. Some of these programs make all the sense in the world, but frankly, on the priority scale, perhaps other programs are more important. Others, frankly, made no sense at all," Rubio said during his opening statement, during which a couple protestors shouted and were escorted out.
He later added, "anytime you undertake reforms of this magnitude that needed to be made, you're going to have hiccups, and you're also going to have controversy," noting that at USAID, just "12 cents of every dollar was reaching the recipient."
"We're going to find more efficient ways to deliver aid to people directly, and it's going to be directed by our regional bureaus, and it's going to sponsor programs that make a difference, and it's going to be part of a holistic approach to our foreign policy."
"The State Department had to change," Rubio told lawmakers, later adding that in order for a memo to get to hs desk, "there were 40 boxes on this piece of paper. That means 40 people had to check off, 'Yes,' okay, before it even got to me. That’s ridiculous. That takes too long."
"That's why people said, don't use State Department. They take too long and cumbersome and if any one of those little boxes didn't get checked, the memo didn't move up the chain. That can't continue. We can't move at that pace. In this world, events happen quickly, and we have to be able to move at the pace of relevance."
He said that his goal at the department is not to "dismantle American foreign policy," but rather to make sure the country is "engaged in a world that makes sense."
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who traveled to El Salvador in an attempt to secure the release of MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, told Rubio that "I regret voting for you for secretary of state."
Rubio responded, "Your regret for voting for me confirms I’m doing a good job."
Senator Tim Kaine also questioned Rubio over the Trump administration’s decision to admit Afrikaners into the US with refugee status as they have been facing persecution in their home country of South Africa. He questioned why they were being let in over other groups around the world, asking, "Can you have a different standard based upon the colour of somebody’s skin? Would that be acceptable?"
"Well, I'm not the one arguing that, apparently you are, cause you don’t like the fact that they’re white" Rubio replied. He later added, "You're the one that's talking about the color of their skin, not me," saying that as a result of their skin, Afrikaners have seen their farms burned down and even murder.
Rubio explained, "Our immigration policy should be based on the national interest of the United States. Period. End of story. If there is a subset of people that are easier to vet who we have a better understanding of who they are and what they're going to do when they come here, they're going to receive preference. No doubt about it."
"There are a lot of sad stories around the world, millions and millions of people around the world. It's heartbreaking. We cannot assume millions and millions of people around the world. No country can. So you have to have a process of deciding, who do you prioritize, who do you allow in? We do it all the time."
He later added, "the bottom line is this notion that somehow we have to accept anyone who wants to come to the United come to the United States is absurd. No country in the world has an immigration policy like that, and no one is arguing that we should."
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