Secretary of State Marco Rubio got into a verbal altercation with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) on Tuesday during his hearing with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Van Hollen criticized Rubio for allowing tech mogul Elon Musk to “take a chainsaw” to the U.S. Agency for International Development, betraying the trust of other countries, “inventing” a genocide in South Africa, and other complaints.
“Mr. Secretary, you and I served together in Congress for 15 years. We didn’t always agree, but I believed we shared some common values,” Van Hollen said. “That’s why I voted to confirm you. I believed you would stand up for those principles. You haven’t. You’ve done the opposite.”
“I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for secretary of state,” he concluded.
The list of grievances went on for approximately seven minutes before the senator yielded the floor.
“Your regret for voting for me tells me I’m doing a good job, based on what I know about your record,” Rubio responded, immediately provoking Van Hollen to ask for more time to counter.
@SecRubio COOKS Sen. @ChrisVanHollen for his El Salvador trip: "We deported gang members — including the one you had a margarita with — And that guy is a human trafficker and that guy is a gang banger." pic.twitter.com/zOIoxARDu5
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 20, 2025
Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) prevented Van Hollen from interrupting Rubio as the secretary responded to the accusations, telling Van Hollen that he had “woefully used” his full allotment of time.
Van Hollen specifically accused Rubio of abiding by a “cash for collusion deal” to “deprive people living in America of their constitutional rights to due process,” citing the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia is a Salvadorian national who was deported under accusations of being an MS-13 gang member. The Trump administration ignored a court order not to deport Abrego Garcia back to El Salvador due to concerns about his safety if he were to return. The decision was attributed to an “administrative error.”
Last month, Van Hollen accused the Trump administration of “gross violations of the Constitution and due process rights” after meeting with Garcia at the high-security prison currently holding him.
“In the case of El Salvador, absolutely. Absolutely, we deported gang members,” Rubio told Van Hollen at the Tuesday hearing. “Gang members, including the one you had a margarita with, and that guy is a human trafficker and that guy is a gangbanger and the evidence is going to be clear.”
“Mr. Chairman, he can’t make unsubstantiated claims like that — Secretary Rubio should take that testimony to the federal court of the United States because he hasn’t done it under oath,” Van Hollen reacted despite orders to be quiet from the chairman.
RUBIO SAYS US ALLOWED TO ‘PICK AND CHOOSE’ WHO GETS REFUGEE STATUS, INCLUDING AFRIKANERS
Van Hollen complained about the altercation on social media after the hearing.
“The Marco Rubio who testified today is not the one I served with in the Senate. He has had a full [Make America Great Again] lobotomy,” he wrote. “Today, I directly told him about the many ways he has betrayed American values and interests.”
