U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced off with Senator Chris Van Hollen on Tuesday in a fiery Senate hearing that quickly turned personal and political. Van Hollen slammed Rubio’s role in carrying out the Trump administration’s foreign policy, accusing him of abandoning core values and violating the Constitution.
For seven straight minutes, Van Hollen tore into Rubio, citing multiple crises and policy failures.
“You and I served together in Congress for 15 years,” Van Hollen said. “We didn’t always agree, but I believe we shared some common values — a belief in defending democracy and human rights abroad and honoring the Constitution at home. That’s why I voted to confirm you. I believed you would stand up for those principles. You haven’t. You’ve done the opposite.”
Van Hollen pointed to the freezing of aid to Sudan during a genocide, the wrongful deportation of migrants, and the revoking of student visas. He blasted Rubio for not stopping what he called a deliberate dismantling of U.S. humanitarian programs.
“You used to speak with conviction about the importance of foreign aid as a tool to advance American values and interests,” Van Hollen said. “Then you stood by while Elon Musk took a chainsaw to USAID and other assistance programs.”
Van Hollen said that lives have been lost because of cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development. Rubio previously said that 83% of USAID’s programs were scrapped after Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency took aim at the agency.
Van Hollen didn’t hold back on the refugee program either, accusing Rubio of turning it into “a system of global apartheid where political ideology and race more than truth or need matter.” He was referring to the Trump administration’s controversial decision to grant refugee status to white South Africans.
Then came the bluntest moment yet: “I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you as secretary of state.”
Rubio brushed off the criticism with a smirk. “Confirms I’m doing a good job,” he replied.
Things boiled over when the senator brought up Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a man the Trump administration admitted was wrongfully deported to El Salvador.
“The Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision, instructed you to facilitate the return to the United States of Abrego Garcia,” Van Hollen said. “Your response, you have openly flouted judicial orders. When asked whether you had been in touch with El Salvador to return Abrego Garcia, you boasted, ‘I would never tell you that, and you know who else I would never tell, a judge.'”
Rubio didn’t back down. “No judge in the judicial branch can tell me or the president how to conduct foreign policy,” he shot back.
Rubio also lashed out at Van Hollen for visiting Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, accusing him of meeting with a criminal.
“We deported gang members, gang members, including the one you had a margarita with,” Rubio said, falsely claiming the man was a human trafficker and gang member.
Van Hollen quickly cut in, furious: “Mr. Chairman, he can’t make unsubstantiated claims like that!”
The hearing ended without resolution.
Watch the videos below:
The Marco Rubio who testified today is not the one I served with in the Senate. He has had a full MAGA lobotomy.
Today I directly told him about the many ways he has betrayed American values and interests: pic.twitter.com/bOkcz6Qxtv
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) May 20, 2025
Rubio tears into Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen: “We deported gang members, including the one that you had a margarita with.”
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 20, 2025
