Rubio Faces Off With Democratic Senator During Heated Confrontation

Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced off with Senator Chris Van Hollen during a fiery Senate hearing on Tuesday over student visas, illegal immigrant gang members, and USAID.

The two faced off after the Maryland Democrat spent over seven minutes criticizing Rubio and expressing regret for having supported his confirmation.

“I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for Secretary of State,” Van Hollen said following his opportunity to question Rubio, choosing instead to deliver a long rant.

“Your regret for voting for me confirms that I am doing a good job based on what I know about your record,” Rubio fired back.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Rubio in January.

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Rubio responded to Van Hollen’s criticism of the secretary traveling to El Salvador, where illegal alien gang members have been deported and imprisoned.

“In the case of El Salvador, absolutely, absolutely. We deported gang members. Gang members. Including the one that you had a margarita with,” Rubio quipped. “The guy is a human trafficker and that guy is a gangbanger and the evidence is going to be clear in the days to come. You are going to see who you went to defend.”

Van Hollen immediately interrupted before being told to be silent by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch (R-ID).

“He can’t make unsubstantiated comments like that,” Van Hollen said. “Secretary Rubio should take that testimony to federal court in the United States because he hasn’t done it under oath.”

Van Hollen visited 29-year-old illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is detained in a Salvadoran mega-prison, in April. Photos went viral of the two drinking margaritas while meeting at a restaurant.

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“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said in a post on X that mocked the meeting.

Rubio attempted to address his former colleague’s remarks on USAID, despite the senator’s interruptions, explaining that he believes wasteful spending was cut. Rubio pointed out $10 million was cut from a program giving male circumcisions in Mozambique and $227,000 for “Big Cats YouTube channel,” and $14 million for “social cohesion” in Mali.

“I don’t know how that makes us stronger or more prosperous as a nation,” Rubio said.

The two also faced off over Rubio revoking student visas from campus disruptors, including the case of Turkish Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk, who had her visa terminated over her alleged “activities in support of Hamas.”

“A visa is not a right, it is a privilege,” Rubio said. “People apply for student visas to come into the United States and study, and if you tell me that you are coming into the United States to lead campus crusades, to take over libraries and try to burn down buildings and acts of violence, we’re not going to give you a visa.”

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In 2024, Ozturk wrote an op-ed calling on her university to acknowledge the “Palestinian genocide” and to divest from companies with ties to Israel.

The Department of Homeland Security previously said it had found Ozturk to have “engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” though details are scarce, and a federal judge ordered her release on May 9.

“The bottom line is if you come here to stir up trouble on our campuses, we will deny you a visa,” Rubio said. “These kids pay money to go to school, and they have to walk through a bunch of lunatics who are here on student visas.”

Rubio added that the State Department will continue to revoke visas and stated, “I hope we can find more of these people.”