Secretary of State. Agent administrator for the United States International Development Agency. Agent Archives Administrator of the National Archives and Records Administration. Now, President Trump’s interim national security adviser.
Like a Christmas tree covered with shiny ornaments of all shapes and sizes, Marco Rubio, 53, amassed four titles on January 20, the same day that Mr. Trump was sworn in.
This is likely a record in the modern history of the US government. It adds to the success story of immigration, which is the narrative of Mr. Rubio, a former senator from Florida, whose father was a bartender after leaving Cuba for the United States, thanked his mother for his hard work.
However, the spread of titles raised questions about whether Mr. Rubio could play any important role in the government, if he had juggled all these positions, especially under the president, he avoided the traditional work of the government and appointed businessman friend Steve Witkoff as a special envoy to deal with the most sensitive diplomatic institutions.
Mr. Trump announced Mr. Rubio’s latest position in social media posts Thursday afternoon, a surprise of the first major personnel reorganization of this administration. The president has just expelled Michael Waltz from work at the White House National Security Advisor and Mr. Waltz's deputy Alex Wong. Mr. Trump said in the same article that Mr. Waltz will now be his nominee to become the UN ambassador.
Mr. Rubio was appointed to another job – as if he was cloned in a B-level science fiction movie – and suddenly suddenly, that State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce learned about this when he read to her on a regular TV news conference a social media post to her Mr. Trump.
“Yes, this is the miracle of modern technology and social media,” Ms. Bruce said. “So it's an exciting time.”
“We see him at the White House several times a week, and he has a close working relationship with the president every day. They are clearly in an environment that knows each other very well,” Ms. Bruce said.
The fact that Mr. Rubio is now leading four bodies not only shows Mr. Trump’s trust in him, but also his close relationship with Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles.
Of course, four jobs also raise more practical questions: Will Mr. Rubio get paid? Will he have time to jump around the world in diplomacy? How will he delegate his responsibilities?
There are some precedents. From 1973-75, Henry Kissinger served as two of Mr. Rubio's jobs, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, in an experiment considered a failure. In the current Trump administration, FBI Director Kash Patel and Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll both served as interim directors for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Guns and Explosives, while also serving in their outstanding positions.
But it may be more important to look for examples outside of the United States. Xi Jinping is the Chinese leader, the secretary-general of the Communist Party, the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission – Mr. Rubio's statistics are insufficient when calculating his top champions (Mr. XI is also the head of several parties).
The Senate unanimously confirmed that Mr. Rubio was Secretary of State. But he entered other jobs in controversy. Mr. Trump fired Chief Archives Administrator Colleen Shogan in early February, which was clearly opposed to the retribution of the National Archives and Records Administration. The agency's leaders raised concerns about Mr. Trump's box of confidential documents at his Florida home after leaving his office in 2021, although Ms. Shogan was not involved in the episode.
Four days after Ms. Shogan's firing, Mr. Rubio announced he was acting administrator for the United States Agency for International Development as Mr. Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk and State Department political appointee Pete Marocco are covering up the agency. Mr Marocco and Mr Musk's government slam task force performed the day-to-day work, reducing agency to husk, cutting contracts and firing thousands of employees, but Mr Rubio signed the move.
Mr. Rubio is transferring the remnants of the agency to the State Department. Last week, he released a planned departmental restructuring chart, indicating that he retained the title of U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator.
Even before Mr. Trump appointed top U.S. diplomat/archiver/aid agency administrator as interim national security adviser, some analysts pointed to Mr. Rubio's holdings in all of these positions.
“Occupy two (or in Rubio’s case, three roles) has never been ideal – guiding government agencies and programs is an important task that requires attention and attention,” said citizens in March to the civic locations of responsibility and ethics. “But Rubio’s current position is unique.”
Author Gabriella Cantor points to a clear conflict of interest: Archivists should make sure other federal agencies, including Mr. Rubio, are also leading, keeping records. Now, with the increase in the White House National Security Council, this has become tricky.
As for the question of Mr. Rubio’s salary (or salary), the State Department did not respond when inquired on Thursday.
That night, Vice President JD Vance put forward the idea on social media about how Mr. Rubio became a one-stop shop for a new authority.
“I think he can stand a little more,” Mr. Vance wrote, who visited the Vatican Pope hours before the Pope's death last month. “If there is only one devout Catholic who has a job opening…”
Michael Crowley Contribution report.
