Secretary of state. Acting administrator of the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement. Acting archivist for the Nationwide Archives and Data Administration. And now interim national security adviser to President Trump.
Like a Christmas tree bedecked with shiny ornaments of each form and measurement, 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 might be a document within the fashionable 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 USA.
However the proliferation of titles raises questions on whether or not Mr. Rubio can play any substantial position within the administration if he’s juggling all these positions, particularly underneath a president who eschews the normal workings of presidency and who has appointed a businessman buddy, Steve Witkoff, as a particular envoy dealing with essentially the most delicate diplomacy.
Mr. Trump introduced Mr. Rubio’s newest position in a social media publish on Thursday afternoon, a shock twist within the first large 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 mentioned 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, realized about it when a reporter learn Mr. Trump’s social media publish to her throughout an everyday televised information convention.
“Yeah, so that’s the miracle of contemporary know-how and social media,” Ms. Bruce mentioned. “So that’s an thrilling second right here.”
Scrambling to attempt to clarify the occasions unfolding in actual time, Ms. Bruce mentioned: “We’ve seen him be on the White Home a number of instances every week, his shut working relationship everyday with the president. They clearly have been in an setting 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 employees.
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 — kind 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.
Nevertheless it could be extra related to look outdoors the USA for examples. Xi Jinping, China’s chief, is basic secretary of the Communist Occasion, president of China and chairman of the Central Army 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 underneath controversial circumstances. Mr. Trump fired the pinnacle archivist, Colleen Shogan, in early February in an obvious act of retribution towards the Nationwide Archives and Data Administration. Leaders of the company had raised considerations about Mr. Trump’s holding onto containers of labeled 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 announced 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 job pressure did the each 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 transferring the remnants of the company into the State Division. Final week, he issued a chart on his deliberate division reorganization that reveals him protecting the title of U.S.A.I.D administrator.
Even earlier than Mr. Trump appointed the highest U.S. diplomat/archivist/help 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 directly isn’t supreme — directing authorities businesses and applications is a major job that calls for consideration and focus,” mentioned a post on the positioning of Residents for Duty and Ethics in Washington, a authorities watchdog group, in March. “However Rubio’s present positions are uniquely regarding.”
The author, Gabriella Cantor, identified the apparent battle of curiosity: The archivist is meant to make sure that different federal businesses, together with the 2 Mr. Rubio can also 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.
