Secretary of State Marco Rubio was fired by Sen. Chris Van Hollen after a Maryland Democrat regretted voting for Rubio as President Donald Trump's chief foreign advisor, leading to a fiery exchange at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Department of State's budget proposal as he spent his time tearing him apart to the State Department to cancel visas for those who discovered that Van Hollen had disrupted university campuses or committed acts of violence.
“Your campaign of fear and oppression preys on the fundamental values of our democracy,” Van Hollen compared Rubio to the time of Senator Joseph McCarthy. He added, “And I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for the Secretary of State.”
“First of all, your regrets about my votes make sure I'm doing a good job,” replied Rubio.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio will testify before the Diplomatic Trials and Trial Committee on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 for the State Department of Capitol Hill, Washington, to consider the 2026 budget request on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“It's just a messed up statement, Mr. Secretary,” Van Hollen shot.
Committee Chairman Jim Riche, R-Idaho, was inserted and asked Van Hollen to let Rubio respond to his claim without interruption. When Van Hollen asked Rubio if he could respond in turn, Riche said, “Your time is over, Senator, and I used it badly that I might add.”
D-Md. Senator Chris Van Hollen will respond while speaking to Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Tuesday. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
Rubio said in the case of El Salvador, “We deported gang members… including those you had a margarita.” “And that guy is a human trafficker, and the guy is a gang bangger, and future evidence will be revealed.”
Van Hollen then jumped in and cried to the chairman, Rubio “cannot make such a baseless comment.”
“Committee Rubio should take his testimony to US federal court,” Van Hollen said before Riche hit the small gavel to continue Rubio.
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Rubio continued: “Let me say this about student visas. I'm not deported to anyone and I'm not taken away from anyone. The State Department has no officers on the streets that everyone takes. All I do is cancel the visa.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen made a fiery exchange with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
“People apply for student visas to come to the US and study. And we are not going to give you a visa if you come to the US to lead the campus crusades and take over the library and burn buildings and acts of violence,” he continued.
Van Hollen said Rubio was “just blowing smoke here and now.”
Rubio replied: “The bottom line, if you come here to stir up trouble on our campus, we will deny you a visa. And if you have a visa and we find you, we will cancel it.”
Rubio has disrupted the university campus, saying the Trump administration will continue to revoke visas for those here as guests.
A senior State Department official responded to the exchange in a statement from Fox News Digital.
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“Once again, Senator Van Hollen proves that he cares more about illegal immigration than his own members,” a senior State Department official said.
