Tag Archives: Marco Rubio

LGBTQ Victims Erased From Human Trafficking Report

Boston’s PBS affiliate reports: The annual State Department report documenting the severity of human trafficking around the world will not include a section on LGBTQ victims this year, one of its authors told GBH News. Each year the State Department publishes what it calls the Trafficking in Persons Report — also known as TIP — to gauge how individual countries …

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Panama President: US Spreads “Lies And Falsehoods”

Reuters reports: Panama President José Raúl Mulino said on Thursday the U.S. was spreading “lies and falsehoods” after the State Department claimed U.S. government vessels would be able to pass through the Panama Canal without paying. The comments were likely to exacerbate tensions between the two countries after the U.S. had cited progress on military cooperation and confronting alleged Chinese …

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State Department Claims US Govt Vessels Now Transit Panama Canal For Free, Panama’s Govt Calls Bullshit

Axios reports: In a rebuke of the Trump administration, Panama has refuted a claim by the U.S. State Department that American vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without being charged fees. The dispute comes shortly after the State Department made the announcement Wednesday evening. President Trump has pushed to regain control of the canal — one of the world’s …

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Rubio: I’m Skipping G20 Summit Because Of “DEI”

Reuters reports: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he won’t attend a Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg later this month, citing among his reasons South Africa’s efforts to address inequality. “South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability.’ In other words: DEI and climate change,” Rubio said in a …

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Almost All USAID Workers Put On Leave Worldwide

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration said late Tuesday that it is pulling almost all U.S. Agency for International Development workers off the job and out of the field worldwide, moving to all but end a six-decade mission to shore up American security by fighting starvation, funding education and working to end epidemics. The administration notified USAID workers in …

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State Department Suspends LGBTQ Employees Group

Semafor reports: The US State Department has suspended its organization for LGBTQ employees, with leadership ordering a pause on all official activities. The move is part of the department’s wider directive to all employee affinity groups to “cancel any planned events, meetings, announcements or other activities,” GLIFAA, the official group representing LGBTQ State Department employees, told its members in an …

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Trump Admin To Put All USAID Workers On Leave

Politico reports: The Trump administration is making moves to place nearly all of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Washington-based staff on leave, according to two people familiar with the steps being taken. A person familiar with the situation said some 1,400 people will be notified Tuesday, on top of about 600 who were placed on leave starting Sunday night. …

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El Salvador Agrees To House US Citizens In Its Jails

Axios reports: El Salvador’s president has offered to “house in his jails dangerous American criminals” and accept deportees of any nationality, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday night. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s [photo] offer is “the most unprecedented and extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world,” per remarks by Rubio. Rubio made the announcement that was criticized by …

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Marco Rubio Lays Out Plan To Abolish USAID [VIDEO]

The Washington Post reports: Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled plans to restructure and potentially abolish the U.S. Agency for International Development on Monday, moving swiftly against an agency that has emerged as a chief target in President Donald Trump’s drive to reshape the federal government and refocus spending at home. n a letter to senior lawmakers from both parties, …

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Rubio Declares Himself Acting Director Of USAID

CNN reports: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that he is acting administrator the US Agency for International Development after Elon Musk, the world’s richest man charged with overhauling the federal government, said President Donald Trump had signed off on shutting the agency down. In Washington, USAID’s headquarters was closed for the day, with employees told in an email …

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Marco Rubio Arrives In Panama To “Retake The Canal”

The Washington Post reports: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to arrive in Panama on Saturday with a lofty assignment: Retake the Panama Canal, the U.S.-built waterway that President Donald Trump laments should have never been relinquished to the Central American country 25 years ago. The audacious demand, which Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino called “impossible” and regional leaders …

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State Dept Freezes Funding For Almost All Foreign Aid

The Independent reports: The State Department on Friday froze new funding for almost all U.S. foreign assistance, making exceptions to allow humanitarian food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt to continue. The sweeping order threatened a quick halt to countless projects globally aiding health, education, development, job training and other efforts by the United States, the largest provider …

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Rubio Freezes New Passports With “X” Sex Markers

The Guardian reports: The US state department has frozen all applications for passports with “X” sex markers and changes to gender identity on existing passports, following a new executive order signed by Donald Trump on his first day of office. In an internal cable obtained by the Guardian, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, instructed department staff on Thursday to …

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Trump Dispatches Marco Rubio To Threaten Panama

Politico reports: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit Panama — the country whose canal President Donald Trump has suggested he’d seize — as early as next week, according to three U.S. officials briefed on the plan. The trip is expected to be Rubio’s first foreign travel as secretary of State, said one former official who was also …

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Rubio Bans Pride Flags At State Dept And Embassies

The right wing Washington Free Beacon reports: The Trump State Department implemented a landmark “One Flag Policy” policy, barring U.S. outposts at home and abroad from flying any other flag but the Stars and Stripes. The newly issued order, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, effectively bans American facilities from displaying flags affiliated with left-wing …

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Senate Confirms Marco Rubio In Unanimous Vote

CNN reports: The Senate voted on Monday to confirm Marco Rubio as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, the first high-level Cabinet official for the new administration to be approved by the chamber. The confirmation vote took place just hours after Trump was sworn in as president. Rubio has served as a Republican senator from Florida since 2011, and his …

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Scores Of State Dept Career Diplomats To Resign Today

The Washington Post reports: Scores of senior career diplomats are resigning from the State Department effective at noon on Monday after receiving instructions to do so from President-elect Donald Trump’s aides, three U.S. officials familiar with the matter said. The forced departures, aimed at establishing a decisive break from the Biden administration, will result in an exodus of decorated veterans …

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LIVE VIDEO: Rubio’s Senate Confirmation Hearing (Politico Predicts Trump Will Fire Him Within A Year)

Politico reports: Congratulations, Marco Rubio! You’ll soon be secretary of State. Condolences, too. You’re not likely to last long in the job. Unlike many of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees, Rubio is a shoo-in for Senate confirmation, having already nabbed some Democratic support. U.S. diplomats and foreign officials, too, view the GOP senator from Florida as a knowledgeable, not-insane, well-behaved person …

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TODAY: Hearings For Bondi, Rubio, Vought, And Duffy

NBC News reports: Several of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks will face questions today from senators during confirmation hearings, including former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, his pick to lead the Justice Department. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Trump’s choice for secretary of state, will appear in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rubio, a three-term senator with foreign policy …

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Rubio’s Son Credits Jesus After Scoring Touchdown

The Hill reports: Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio praised his son Anthony, a walk-on player for the Florida Gators, who scored his first touchdown in the school’s Gasparilla Bowl on Friday night. Anthony Rubio, a running back, scored in the waning minutes of the game against Tulane. Florida won, 33-8. The touchdown set off a frenzy among his teammates, with …

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