Marco Rubio
person
Marco Rubio is the U.S. Secretary of State, confirmed in January 2025, and has also served at times as interim National Security Adviser. He previously represented Florida in the U.S. Senate from 2011 to 2025 and ran for president in 2016. He is the first Hispanic to serve as Secretary of State.
Entries involving this actor (11)
State Dept. opens investigation into deporting Trita Parsi, prominent critic of Trump's Iran war
The U.S. State Department has opened an investigation into Trita Parsi — an Iranian-born green-card holder of more than 25 years who co-founded the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the National Iranian American Council — reviewing whether to revoke his permanent residency and pursue deportation, according to The Free Press, which cited U.S. officials and documents it reviewed. Parsi has been among the most frequently quoted public critics of the Trump administration's military campaign against Iran. The State Department said it has "no plans to revoke the green card of Mr. Parsi at this time" but declined to rule out future action.
Trump White House backed taxpayer-funded 'Rededicate 250' worship service on National Mall
On May 17, 2026, the Trump White House backed an all-day evangelical worship service — "Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving" — on the National Mall, funded through a mix of taxpayer dollars and private donations. President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared by video, and House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed the crowd in person alongside religious leaders. Church-state separation advocates and constitutional-law scholars said the federal government's endorsement and partial funding of an explicitly Christian worship service on federal land raised First Amendment Establishment Clause concerns.
Pentagon plans to rename Iran war 'Sledgehammer' to restart the War Powers 60-day clock
On May 12, 2026, NBC News reported — citing two U.S. officials and a White House official — that the Pentagon is preparing to officially rename the U.S. war with Iran from "Operation Epic Fury" to "Operation Sledgehammer" if the current ceasefire collapses and President Trump orders the resumption of major combat operations. The White House official told NBC that any renewed campaign would be conducted under a new name and that, from the administration's perspective, this would effectively restart the 60-day clock under the 1973 War Powers Resolution that requires congressional authorization for sustained hostilities. The maneuver layers onto the administration's existing position that the early-April ceasefire paused the statutory clock — which expired May 1 by Antiwar.com's count — even as the United States has continued to enforce a blockade of Iran.
BIA reinstates deportation proceedings against Columbia activist Mohsen Mahdawi
The Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated removal proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian lawful permanent resident and Columbia University student activist, overturning an immigration judge's February dismissal of the case. The government had pursued Mahdawi's deportation under a rarely used foreign-policy provision invoked by the Secretary of State, after he was detained in 2025 over his pro-Palestinian advocacy and released by a federal court without being charged with any crime.
State Department revokes U.S. visas of five La Nación board members in apparent retaliation
The U.S. State Department revoked the U.S. tourist visas of five of the seven board members of La Nación, Costa Rica's leading watchdog newspaper, in what the paper and press-freedom groups describe as retaliation for its critical editorial line. The board members received no formal notice or explanation — the department cited visa-record confidentiality — and reportedly first learned of the revocations through pro-government Costa Rican media. The move followed Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Costa Rica and the paper's scrutiny of President Rodrigo Chaves, a Trump ally.
State Department orders consular officers to deny visas to applicants who fear returning home
On April 28, 2026, the U.S. State Department sent a worldwide diplomatic cable ordering consular officers to ask every nonimmigrant visa applicant two new verbal questions -- whether they have suffered harm or mistreatment at home and whether they fear harm if returned -- and to deny the visa to anyone who answers "yes" or refuses to answer. The directive, which covers tourist, student, and temporary-worker visas, converts an expression of protection-need into an automatic disqualifier and is part of a broader effort to screen out applicants who might later seek asylum.
State Dept revokes Iranian asylees' green cards on debunked Soleimani-relation claim
On April 3, 2026, ICE arrested Iranian asylees Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her adult daughter Sarina Hosseiny outside Los Angeles after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their green cards in a public statement identifying them as the niece and grandniece of slain Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. A subsequent Drop Site News investigation reviewing Iranian birth records, identification papers, and family wills found no familial connection to the late general — a finding corroborated by Soleimani's own surviving daughters in Iran. The women remain held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in San Antonio pending removal to Iran, where Hamideh, who has autoimmune hemolytic anemia, is reportedly being denied the transfusion treatment her condition requires.
State Department declares wartime emergency to bypass Congress on $23B in Mideast arms sales
On March 20, 2026, the State Department declared a national-security "wartime emergency" to bypass Congress and force through more than $23 billion in arms sales to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Jordan. Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked emergency-certification authority under the Arms Export Control Act to waive the statutory congressional-review window across 11 weapons packages — some still under review on Capitol Hill, others never formally submitted to Congress. Coverage described it as the administration's second use of emergency authority to circumvent congressional approval of arms transfers since the war with Iran began.
State Department adds 12 countries to $15,000 visa-bond program
On March 18, 2026, the State Department added 12 countries — Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Tunisia — to its visa-bond program, requiring B-1/B-2 visitor-visa applicants from those nations to post a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 as a condition of issuance, effective April 2, 2026. The addition brings the program to 50 countries, predominantly lower-income states; bonded travelers may enter only through commercial airports and are barred from land, sea, charter, and general-aviation ports of entry.
State Department declares emergency to bypass Congress on $151.8M Israel bomb sale
On March 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of State approved an emergency Foreign Military Sale to Israel of 12,000 BLU-110A/B 1,000-pound bomb bodies and related support, valued at about $151.8 million. Secretary of State Marco Rubio formally determined that an emergency existed requiring the immediate sale, invoking Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act to waive the statutory congressional-review period. It was the administration's first AECA emergency declaration to bypass Congress on an arms sale to Israel, coming roughly a week into the joint U.S.-Israel air war against Iran.
State Department cable halted all Afghan visa processing worldwide, including SIVs for wartime allies
On November 29, 2025, the State Department sent a cable to every U.S. diplomatic post ordering consular officers to stop processing and refuse all visa applications from Afghan nationals — immigrant, non-immigrant, and Special Immigrant Visas — effective immediately. The cable also instructed officers to cancel any authorized-but-unprinted visas and to destroy already-printed ones, while Secretary of State Rubio publicly confirmed the halt. The directive was triggered by the November 26 shooting of two National Guard members near the White House by an Afghan national, and applied collectively to all Afghans regardless of individual circumstances or prior approval status.