Secretary of State Marco Rubio is defending major cuts in the foreign affairs budget as he testifies on Tuesday before the Senate committee where he used to be a member.
“America is back,” he said in his statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Now, Rubio is defending a $28.5 billion foreign affairs budget, about half of what it has been in recent years.
Shaheen also pressed Rubio on the administration’s efforts to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have backed the changes Rubio is making.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is testifying before the Senate committee he once served on, defending significant cuts to the foreign affairs budget.
“America is back,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The ranking Democrat on the committee, however, cautions that budget cuts and the dismantling of the U.S. S. . The United States is giving ground to China, according to the Agency for International Development (USAID).
“China has proposed increasing its diplomatic budget by 8.4 percent, while Elon Musk took a chainsaw to USAID and you proposed cutting 83 percent of foreign programs,” said the senator from New Hampshire. The prepared remarks were made by Jeanne Shaheen. “As we work to cut back on our diplomatic staff and talk about closing U. S. . China has more diplomatic missions than any other country in the world. “..”.
Rubio appeared before his fellow senators for a confirmation hearing in January, and since then, the Trump administration has dismantled USAID. The $28.5 billion foreign affairs budget that Rubio is currently defending is roughly half of what it has been in previous years. In addition to reducing the size of the State Department, he is thinking of closing some of its overseas missions.
Rubio was also questioned by Shaheen regarding the administration’s attempts to broker an end to Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. Instead of bringing about the immediate ceasefire that Ukraine and its allies had hoped for, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested more talks during President Trump’s phone conversation with him on Monday.
According to Shaheen, Vladimir Putin is currently playing for time and acting like a puppet to the president.
Rubio disagreed, claiming that Trump is attempting to put an end to a conflict that no one can win. “Ukraine wants what it cannot militarily reclaim, and Russia wants what it does not currently have and is not entitled to. Rubio stated that this has been the main obstacle.
The modifications Rubio is implementing have received support from Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In a prior hearing last month, Republican Chairman Jim Risch of Idaho stated that he has been “crying out” for “does not survive” reforms at USAID. He is in favor of incorporating what’s left of it into the State Department.
Democratic Senator from Hawaii… According to Brian Schatz, a more deliberate and cooperative approach to the reforms would have been preferable.
