Secretary of state. Appearing administrator of the U.S. Company for Worldwide Growth. Appearing archivist for the Nationwide Archives and Data Administration. And now interim nationwide safety adviser to President Trump.
Like a Christmas tree bedecked with shiny ornaments of each form and dimension, Marco Rubio, 53, has gathered 4 titles beginning along with his affirmation as secretary of state on Jan. 20, the identical day that Mr. Trump took his oath of workplace.
It very nicely could possibly be a file within the trendy historical past of the U.S. authorities. And it provides to the immigrant success story that’s core to the narrative of Mr. Rubio, a former senator from Florida whose father labored as a bartender and mom toiled as a housekeeper after they left Cuba for the US.
However the proliferation of titles raises questions on whether or not Mr. Rubio can play any substantial function within the administration if he’s juggling all these positions, particularly below a president who eschews the standard workings of presidency and who has appointed a businessman pal, Steve Witkoff, as a particular envoy dealing with probably the most delicate diplomacy.
Mr. Trump introduced Mr. Rubio’s latest place in a social media publish on Thursday afternoon, a shock twist within the first huge personnel shake-up of this administration. The president had simply ousted Michael Waltz from the White Home nationwide safety adviser job in addition to Mr. Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong. In the identical publish, Mr. Trump stated Mr. Waltz would now be his nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations.
Mr. Rubio’s appointment to yet one more job — as if he had been cloned in a B-grade sci-fi film — was so sudden that Tammy Bruce, the State Division spokeswoman, discovered about it when a reporter learn Mr. Trump’s social media publish to her throughout a daily televised information convention.
“Yeah, so that’s the miracle of recent expertise and social media,” Ms. Bruce stated. “So that’s an thrilling second right here.”
Scrambling to attempt to clarify the occasions unfolding in actual time, Ms. Bruce stated: “We’ve seen him be on the White Home a number of instances every week, his shut working relationship day after day with the president. They clearly have been in an atmosphere the place they’ve gotten to know one another very nicely.”
The truth that Mr. Rubio now leads 4 our bodies is an indication not solely of the belief positioned in him by Mr. Trump, but in addition of the shut relationship he has with Susie Wiles, the veteran political operative who’s Mr. Trump’s chief of workers.
In fact, having 4 jobs additionally raises extra sensible points: Does Mr. Rubio get a pay bump? Will he have time to hop across the globe to do diplomacy? How will he delegate his duties?
There are precedents — type of. From 1973-75, Henry Kissinger held two of Mr. Rubio’s jobs, secretary of state and nationwide safety adviser, in an experiment that was thought-about a failure. Within the present Trump administration, two officers, Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and Daniel Driscoll, the Military secretary, have each been interim head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives whereas additionally serving of their extra distinguished posts.
However it is likely to be extra related to look exterior the US for examples. Xi Jinping, China’s chief, is basic secretary of the Communist Social gathering, president of China and chairman of the Central Navy Fee — nonetheless one job in need of Mr. Rubio’s tally.
The Senate unanimously confirmed Mr. Rubio to be secretary of state. However he entered the opposite jobs below controversial circumstances. Mr. Trump fired the pinnacle archivist, Colleen Shogan, in early February in an obvious act of retribution in opposition to the Nationwide Archives and Data Administration. Leaders of the company had raised issues about Mr. Trump’s holding onto containers of categorized paperwork at his dwelling in Florida after he left workplace in 2021, although Ms. Shogan was not concerned in that episode.
4 days earlier than Ms. Shogan’s firing, Mr. Rubio introduced he was the appearing administrator for U.S.A.I.D., as Elon Musk, the billionaire adviser to Mr. Trump, and Pete Marocco, a political appointee within the State Division, had been gutting the company. Mr. Marocco and members of Mr. Musk’s government-slashing process drive did the day by day work of decreasing the company to a husk, slicing contracts and firing 1000’s of workers, however Mr. Rubio signed off on the strikes.
Mr. Rubio is shifting the remnants of the company into the State Division. Final week, he issued a chart on his deliberate division reorganization that exhibits him conserving the title of U.S.A.I.D administrator.
Even earlier than Mr. Trump appointed the highest U.S. diplomat/archivist/support company administrator to be interim nationwide safety adviser, some analysts had been mentioning the issues with Mr. Rubio holding all these positions.
“Occupying two (or in Rubio’s case, three) roles without delay isn’t best — directing authorities companies and applications is a major process that calls for consideration and focus,” stated a publish on the positioning of Residents for Accountability and Ethics in Washington, a authorities watchdog group, in March. “However Rubio’s present positions are uniquely regarding.”
The author, Gabriella Cantor, identified the plain battle of curiosity: The archivist is meant to make sure that different federal companies, together with the 2 Mr. Rubio can be main, protect information. Now, with the addition of the White Home Nationwide Safety Council, that turns into thornier.
As for the query of Mr. Rubio’s wage (or salaries), the State Division didn’t reply when requested on Thursday afternoon.
Michael Crowley contributed reporting.