US is not withdrawing from the world, Rubio says during testy hearings in Congress

US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Tuesday insisted the country is not withdrawing from the world as he batted away criticism of cuts to aid and diplomatic budgets from former colleagues in Congress, some of whom regret voting to confirm him because he has not stood up to President Donald Trump.

In sometimes feisty first testimony as the country's top diplomat, Rubio was challenged over his role in the administration's crackdown on immigration, Trump's engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the decision to prioritise the resettlement in the US of white South Africans over refugees from elsewhere.

Rubio said the intent of changes he is overseeing was “not to dismantle American foreign policy, and it is not to withdraw us from the world”, citing his travel since taking office.

“I hit 18 countries in 18 weeks,” Rubio told the Senate foreign relations committee.

“That doesn't sound like much of a withdrawal.”

Trump's administration has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world but has begun to resettle Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers in SA, saying they faced discrimination and even genocide. SA's government denies the allegation of genocide.

“While you've turned away from a genocide in Sudan and invented one in SA, you've teamed up with President Trump to throw the Ukrainian people under the bus, and have been played like a fiddle by Vladimir Putin,” Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in a blistering critique of Rubio's about-face on issues he embraced as a senator, adding he regretted his vote for Rubio's nomination.

“Your regret for voting for me confirms I'm doing a good job,” Rubio retorted, before the hearing devolved into a shouting exchange, something unusual for a committee long known for bipartisanship.

On Russia, Rubio said Putin had not received any real concessions in the US effort to initiate talks to end the war in Ukraine and Russia sanctions remain in place.

During a second hearing, several Republicans voiced support for aid and other forms of soft power.

“This to me is national security in another form. To the people who don't get that, you're missing a lot,” said Republican senator Lindsey Graham, chair of the Senate appropriations foreign affairs subcommittee.

Rubio insisted many of the programmes he has cut did not serve US interests, and that Washington would remain the world's most generous donor of humanitarian aid.

The administration proposed a new $2.9bn (R52bn) America First Opportunity Fund that would take on foreign aid, building on “lessons we learnt from USAID”, Rubio said.

Rubio said the $28.5bn (R510bn) budget request by the Trump administration for the 2025/2026 fiscal year will allow the state department to continue enacting Trump's vision while cutting $20bn (R356bn) of “duplicative, wasteful, and ideologically driven programmes”.

He defended cuts to foreign aid — he was an advocate of such aid during his 14 years in the Senate — while slashing state department staff and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which used to spend roughly $40bn (R716bn) a year and is being folded into the state department.

Senators also asked Rubio about Trump's plans to unwind Syria sanctions, Rubio's role in the administration's immigration crackdown, the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

“I believe (Israel) can achieve their objective of defeating Hamas while allowing aid to enter in sufficient quantities,” Rubio said.

Rubio said the state department would allow staff in Turkey, including the ambassador there, to work with local officials in Syria. He said his objective over time was to change Syria's state sponsor of terrorism designation “if they meet the standard”.

A few protesters interrupted the hearings with shouts of “stop the genocide” before police bundled them out of the hearing rooms. Protesters have been regularly interrupting congressional hearings during Israel's war in Gaza.

Rubio welcomed Israel's decision to let in some humanitarian aid after a weeks-long blockade, and said he sees Israel's actions in Gaza as targeting Hamas militants.

Washington had asked other countries in the region if they would be open to accepting Palestinians from Gaza who want to move voluntarily, Rubio said, though he denied reports there were talks for Libya to take in Gazans.

Republicans praised Rubio, who has become a crucial figure in the Trump administration. He is also serving as Trump's acting national security adviser, the USAID administrator and the acting archivist of the US.

Rubio is the first person since Henry Kissinger in the 1970s to hold the secretary of state and national security adviser positions simultaneously.

“When I have a problem, I call Marco. He gets it solved,” Trump said.

On Wednesday, Rubio is due to testify at two more hearings in the House of Representatives.

Reuters