{"id":6681,"date":"2025-05-21T00:10:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T00:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunnewsusa.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/21\/rubio-and-van-hollen-get-into-heated-exchange-over-trump-policies-during-senate-hearing\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T00:10:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T00:10:02","slug":"rubio-and-van-hollen-get-into-heated-exchange-over-trump-policies-during-senate-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunnewsusa.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/21\/rubio-and-van-hollen-get-into-heated-exchange-over-trump-policies-during-senate-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio and Van Hollen get into heated exchange over Trump policies during Senate hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Washington<\/em> \u2014 Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, engaged in a heated exchange Tuesday as the nation’s top diplomat defended the Trump administration’s foreign policy while testifying to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For seven minutes, Van Hollen criticized Rubio on his handling of issues ranging from the freezing of humanitarian assistance<\/a><\/span> in Sudan during a genocide, deportations to El Salvador<\/a><\/span> without due process and revoking student visas<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“You and I served together in Congress for 15 years,” Van Hollen said. “We didn’t always agree, but I believe we shared some common values \u2014 a belief in defending democracy and human rights abroad and honoring the Constitution at home. 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.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Van Hollen continued, “You used to speak with conviction about the importance of foreign aid as a tool to advance American values and interests. Then you stood by while Elon Musk took a chainsaw to USAID and other assistance programs.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The senator said people have died as a result of the gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID. Earlier this year, Rubio said 83% of programs<\/a><\/span> funded by the federal agency were being canceled after it became a target for the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Van Hollen also said that Rubio has “made a mockery of our country’s refugee process, turning it into a system of global apartheid where political ideology and race more than truth or need matter.” The criticism was in reference to the Trump administration granting refugee status<\/a><\/span> to White South Africans over claims that they have faced discrimination by the country’s post-apartheid government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for as secretary of state,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rubio said Van Hollen’s regret “confirms I’m doing a good job.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

He then ridiculed the senator for traveling to El Salvador<\/a><\/span> to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia<\/a><\/span>, who was mistakenly deported<\/a><\/span> by the Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We deported gang members, gang members, including the one you had a margarita with,” Rubio said, referring to false claims that the senator and\u00a0 drank margaritas during their April meeting. “And that guy is a human trafficker, and that guy is a gang banger.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Van Hollen interjected, “Mr. Chairman, he can’t make unsubstantiated like that!”\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n