All Hell Breaks Loose When Van Hollen Tells Sec. Rubio To His Face, He Regrets Voting To Confirm Him
Forbes Breaking News
May 20, 2025
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At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke to Sec. Marco Rubio about the work being done at the State Department.
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Transcript
- 0:00
- uh Senator Van Halo uh thank you Mr
- chairman mr secretary you and I served
- together in Congress for 15 years 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 and you used to speak with
- conviction about the importance of
- foreign aid as a tool to advance
- American values and interests then you
- stood by while Elon Musk took a chainsaw
- to USID and other assistance programs
- that has left a staggering toll broken
- trust with countries openings for China
- and other adversaries and countless
- preventable deaths of children and
- others take Sudan for example the
- freezing of US humanitarian assistance
- forced the closure of nearly 80% of the
- 1:01
- emergency food kitchens there two
- million famineaffected people were left
- without access to food people died
- because of those actions mothers fathers
- and children tons of emergency food that
- could have saved their lives was left
- rotting in warehouses because you and
- Elon Musk refused to let USAD do its job
- sudan is a country where by the
- administration's own determination a
- genocide is unfolding in Darur but
- here's where it goes from cruel to
- despicable while cutting off food aid to
- Sudanese families living through an
- actual genocide you're fast-tracking
- white South Africans for refugee status
- under a manufactured claim that they are
- the victims of genocide you tried to
- block the admission of individuals who
- had already been approved to come here
- as refugees while making bogus claims to
- justify granting such status to
- Africconers you've made a mockery of our
- 2:02
- country's refugee process turning it
- into a system of global apartheite where
- political ideology and race more than
- truth or need matter and while you've
- turned away from a genocide in Sudan and
- invented one in South Africa you teamed
- up with President Trump to throw the
- Ukrainian people under the bus and had
- been played like a fiddle by Vladimir
- Putin of course Donald Trump not only
- said he would end the war in Ukraine on
- day one he also said he would end the
- war in Gaza on day one and yet last week
- you were all running around to Gulf
- States giving away very sensitive
- American AI and ships technology but
- doing nothing to end the war in Gaza and
- get the remaining hostages returned you
- know that for 78 days the Netanyahu
- government did not allow a scrap of food
- to enter Gaza to reach over 2 million
- civilians 57 children have died from
- malnutrition so far and more than 14,000
- 3:01
- children are in imminent danger of dying
- of starvation as Cindy McCain said last
- week and I quote 'Families in Gaza are
- starving while the food they need is
- sitting at the border.' That is a gross
- violation of both US and international
- law what did you do nothing not once did
- you publicly call upon the Netanyahu
- government to end the blockade
- fortunately other countries spoke out
- and now we see a tiny trickle going in
- where have you focused your energy
- instead Mr secretary well your first
- trip as Secretary of State was to El
- Salvador not to promote democracy but to
- cozy up to President Bale who calls
- himself the world's coolest dictator the
- result was a cash for collusion deal to
- deprive people living in America of
- their constitutional rights to due
- process the Supreme Court in a 9 to0
- decision instructed you to facilitate
- 4:01
- the return to United States of Abrego
- Garcia who the administration admitted
- was wrongfully deported to El Salvador
- your response you've openly flouted
- judicial orders when asked whether you
- have been in touch with El Salvador to
- return Abrago Garcia you boasted quote
- 'I would never tell you that.' And you
- know who else I would never tell a
- judge clearly you don't care about the
- fifth amendment right to due process and
- you don't care about the First Amendment
- either since you've been very busy
- snatching students off of college
- campuses for exercising their right to
- free speech you dredged up a relic from
- the McCarthy era to claim that student
- protesters posed a threat to the foreign
- policy of the United States give me a
- break Mr secretary you know as well as I
- do this isn't about national security
- it's about punishing free speech and you
- know that in America the government
- doesn't get to use its power to punish
- 5:01
- speech it doesn't like yet in March you
- boasted about revoking student visas
- saying and I'm quoting 'We do it every
- day every time I find one of these
- lunatics I take away their visa.'
- Unquote let's look at one of those
- lunatics mr secretary Miss Ostk her
- crime was co-authoring an op-ed in her
- college paper critical of Tus
- University's response to the war in Gaza
- your own department found zero links to
- terrorism no anti-semitic statements but
- you still ganked her visa and shipped
- her off to detention in Louisiana and
- the list goes on and on the federal
- judge in the case of Mosen Madawi who is
- the Columbia student who was ambushed by
- federal agents at his citizen
- appointment said and I quote 'This is
- the judge legal residents not charged
- with crimes or misconduct are being
- arrested and threatened with deportation
- 6:00
- for stating their views on the political
- issues of the day our nation has seen
- times like this before especially during
- the Red Scare and Palmer raids like the
- McCarthy era witch hunts of the 1950s
- your campaign of fear and repression is
- eating away at foundational values of
- our democracy back then it took one
- voice attorney Joseph Welch to cut
- through the hysteria with the simple
- question that marked the beginning of
- the end of that shameful era he asked
- Senator McCarthy 'Have you no sense of
- decency?' And I would ask you the same
- Secretary Rubio but you have shown
- through your words and your actions what
- the answer is and I have to tell you
- directly and personally that I regret
- voting for you for Secretary of State i
- yield back may I respond you may sir
- well first of all your regret for voting
- for me confirms I'm doing a good job
- based on what I know that's just a
- flippin statement mr secretary can I
- respond Mr chairman you may i didn't ask
- senator please let the secretary I'd be
- 7:00
- happy to but then I can respond to his
- Your time's up Senator and uh woefully
- used I might add your your remarks do
- not represent the view of this committee
- well Mr secretary please well I'd like
- to I can't respond to everything he said
- because much of these are untrue but
- I'll go through a few first of all I'm
- actually very proud of the work we've
- done with USAD for example I don't
- regret cutting $10 million for male
- circumcisions in Mosmb beek i don't know
- how that makes us stronger and more
- prosperous as a nation i don't regret
- the psycho social support services i
- raised mr secretary can I respond uh
- Senator I'd ask you to suspend you had
- seven straight minutes of I chose to use
- my time that way Mr chairman that's my
- right to Please suspend that way
- secretary Rubio well I can go on i mean
- there's other things here we spent
- $227,000 for Big Cat's YouTube channel
- from USA ID we spent $14 million for
- social cohesion in Mali whatever the
- hell that means so I can go on and on i
- got the list here and there's more i
- didn't even bring the whole list in the
- case of El Salvador absolutely
- 8:00
- absolutely we deported gang members gang
- members including the one you had a
- margarita with and that guy is a human
- trafficker and that guy is a gangbanger
- and that and and the evidence is going
- to be clear in the days to come you're
- going to see who you went to i'm sorry
- Mr chairman secretary Rubio has the
- floor mr chairman he can't make
- unsubstantiated
- like that secretary Rubio has the floor
- you know should take that testimony the
- federal United States because he hasn't
- done it under oath here's another point
- okay there is a division in our
- government between the federal branch
- and the judicial branch no judge and the
- judicial branch cannot tell me or the
- president how to conduct foreign policy
- no judge can tell me how I have to
- outreach to a foreign partner what I
- need to say to them and if I do reach to
- that foreign partner and talk to them I
- am under no obligation to share that
- with the judiciary branch just like a
- judge cannot order me to negotiate with
- a foreign minister of Russia they cannot
- order me to negotiate with a foreign
- minister or the president of El Salvador
- and if I did negotiate with them which
- we have responded to them and we've told
- them we've had communications with the
- 9:00
- president of El Salvador i am under no
- obligation under our division of powers
- in this country and to share with the
- led the judicial branch how I conducted
- diplomacy of the United States it would
- actually be counterproductive if I
- started sharing with courts or frankly
- with the media my conversations with
- foreign leaders and all of their details
- no foreign leader would talk to me again
- and we would break trust with them so I
- I have complied with every court order
- what I won't comply with is an order to
- disclose what I'm saying and what we're
- talking about with the foreign leader
- because then they won't talk to me
- diplomacy doesn't work that way um I
- don't about the student visas let me say
- this i don't deport anybody and I don't
- snatch anybody the State Department does
- not have officers in the street
- snatching everybody what I do is revoke
- visas and it's very simple a visa is a
- is not a right it is a privilege people
- apply for student visas to come into the
- United States and study and if you tell
- me that you're coming to the United
- States to lead campus crusades to take
- over libraries and burn down try to burn
- down buildings and acts of violence
- we're not going to give you Is that what
- 10:00
- Miss Osor did is that what she did come
- on Mr secretary and every single one of
- these factors are different the bottom
- line is if you're coming here to stir up
- trouble on our campuses we will deny you
- a visa and if you have a first amendment
- app and we're going to do more there are
- more coming we're going to continue to
- revoke the visas of people who are here
- as guests and are disrupting our higher
- education facilities people are paying
- money these kids pay money to go to
- school and they have to walk to the top
- disrupting the foreign policy of the
- United States i want to do more i hope
- we can find more of these pathetic mr in
- fact the other day the other day some
- guys led a riot i forgot what university
- it was and I asked 'Please can you find
- the arrest records of all the people
- that were arrested at that riot at that
- campus because if any of them have a
- visa we're going to revoke i feel so
- much safer to lock up people like Miss
- Ast mr secretary we've had enough we've
- had enough time on the subject thank you
- very much.' And
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