Secretary of State Marco Rubio made his way back to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs on the FY27 Department of State Budget Request.
It went as these things usually do: Democrats, who were supposed to be asking questions, talked at Rubio and complained about everything Donald Trump does without giving the secretary a chance to respond. And he, as he usually does, handled it with intelligence, wit, and... actual information with context.
Honestly, it's almost boring at this point — I believe Rubio thinks so too. After finishing his opening remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he ended with, "So anyways, I look forward to your questions. At least that’s what it says here. I’m not sure if I really look forward to your questions. I look forward to probably half your questions."
A couple of things I noted: The Democrats must have gotten together and decided they'd all coordinate when talking about Iran. Nearly every single one referred to it as "Donald Trump's illegal war in Iran." (You can't see me, but I'm rolling my eyes.)
I also noted that these Democrats love to talk about how many people have allegedly died due to the end of USAID and the restructuring of how we handle humanitarian aid around the world — for what it's worth, their numbers are false — but they seem to turn a blind eye to the people who die at the hands of the regimes in countries like Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba, as well as at the hands of narco-terrorists, cartels, and criminal groups around the globe, and get mad that the United States is intervening to stop this. You can't have it both ways, but I digress. Let's get to a few highlights from the hearings.
The biggest smackdown of the day was when Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) decided to accuse Rubio of partying the night away while JD Vance was working on negotiations with Iran. She kept talking about him being at some "party" with President Trump.
Rubio asked her what party she was referring to, but she couldn't quite come up with an answer and continued with her accusations, asserting that while he was at this party, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff — two people who were never confirmed for this by the U.S. Congress, she says — were doing his job. The secretary did not take that sitting down.
"You don't know what you're talking about! I know your staff wrote up this cute statement for TikTok, but it's not true. And it's not real. That's not what happened," Rubio said.
He explained that he was not at a party; he was on the phone constantly with all parties involved and "co-located with the president in the midst of a high stakes negotiation so that I could immediately inform him about events occurring halfway around the world."
For what it's worth, I believe she's referring to the UFC fight in Miami. Trump made an appearance, and Rubio was there with some of his children, but it was widely reported that the secretary spent most of the night on the phone and keeping the president updated on what was going on in the Middle East.
Here's the video. This exchange is a must-watch:
🚨 HOLY SMOKES. Sec. Marco Rubio just OBLITERATED Sen. Rosen (D)'s lies
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 2, 2026
ROSEN: You were at a PARTY instead of helping JD Vance negotiate with Iran!
RUBIO: "You don't know what you're TALKING ABOUT! I know your staff wrote up this CUTE statement for TikTok, but it's NOT TRUE.… pic.twitter.com/03b6OrVWfV
I'm not going to get too deep into everything the Congress critters talked about, but I do want to highlight a few more important exchanges, like this one in which Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) made up a bunch of stuff about Iran that was giving me Kamala Harris word salad vibes.
🚨 NOW: Sec. Marco Rubio just EMBARRASSED Dem Sen. Cory Booker thinking he knows more about foreign policy than Rubio
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 2, 2026
"We're allowing Iran to SELL OIL, they've made $10-$50B!"
RUBIO: "They did NOT get $50 billion, and they are now LOSING HUNDREDS of millions per DAY because of… pic.twitter.com/RNEY3QApoU
And then there was Sen. Chris "Margaritas in El Salvador" Van Hollen, who seemed oddly nervous during the entire thing — possibly because he remembers how Rubio owned him last time they did this. If you'll recall, he told Rubio he regretted voting for him, and Rubio replied, "Your regret voting for me confirms I’m doing a good job." Van Hollen started out by saying that Trump's entire foreign policy was a "dumpster fire" and then went on to spew a bunch of leftists lies about, well, pretty much everything. Anyway, here are a couple of their exchanges for your viewing pleasure.
🔥 Marco Rubio is on FIRE!
— Stephen Gardner (@StephenGardnerX) June 2, 2026
He shuts down Chris Van Hollen during a Senate hearing after the senator cited media reports claiming the U.S. and Israel were working to remove Jordan’s custodianship of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Rubio responded that he had never even heard of the claim,…
Sec. Rubio with the perfect response after Democrat Sen. Van Hollen says:
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) June 2, 2026
"There is no evidence that Cuba is engaged in state-sponsored terrorism. Did you find new evidence?" pic.twitter.com/Ex1OSzOfXP
Something else Rubio tried to hammer home to these people during these hearings is that the State Department is doing what's in the United States' best interests. It's all common sense, but as we know, many Democrats lack that. I'll leave you with a few of those videos.
SECRETARY RUBIO: "The core of our foreign policy must always be the national interests of the United States." pic.twitter.com/WZo60EIbe6
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 2, 2026
On refugees and immigration:
SECRETARY RUBIO: "That's what our immigration policy should always be about: what's good for our country." pic.twitter.com/uO5R6R984u
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 2, 2026
On how our new and improved humanitarian aid works:
.@SecRubio: "We don’t want aid to solely be judged by how much you spend. We want it to be judged by what its results are." pic.twitter.com/ywyLkECBbF
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 2, 2026
On how we're not the world's social workers:
SECRETARY RUBIO: "I also want to remind everybody that the United States government is not a charity. We are not here to play social worker, we are here to win." pic.twitter.com/S9MfVaBdTr
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 2, 2026
No more blank checks — we want to see results:
SECRETARY RUBIO: "We're not just providing money, we are also seeking outcomes. It's not just how much money you spend on a program, it's whether you're getting outcomes from it." pic.twitter.com/myAN87zfjB
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 2, 2026
He had a lot of good things to say about Venezuela and Cuba, but I'm working on some general updates on what's going on in both countries that I'll have ready either Tuesday night night or on Wednesday, so stay tuned for that.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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