'When Do I Get To Talk Here?': Rubio And Duckworth Have Acrimonious Exchange About Trump Diplomacy

[0:00] Thank you Mr. Chairman. Secretary Rubio I trust you're familiar with then CENTCOM [0:04] commander and future Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis's famous quote about [0:08] the importance of funding a foreign policy apparatus. In 2013 in response to [0:14] a question from the now chairman of SASC General Mattis pointed out that if you [0:19] don't find and I quote him if you don't fund the State Department fully then I [0:23] need to buy more ammunition ultimately end quote. Unfortunately despite his [0:28] service in the first Trump administration the second time around you seem to have [0:33] taken the message as a blueprint rather than as a warning. The budget that you're [0:37] presenting today cuts the State Department by about a third after you [0:42] previously tried to enact steep cuts and eliminations last year many of which were [0:46] already rebuked by Congress on a bipartisan basis. Time and again this [0:50] administration uses our military as a first tool of choice manufacturing new [0:54] crises and new conflicts that worsen the situation for folks abroad as well as for [0:58] American people back here at home and now you're here to justify a budget [1:02] request that further undermines our diplomatic apparatus. The tools and [1:06] professionals that are critical for not only preventing crises before they begin [1:09] but those who will be responsible for negotiating our way out of Trump's war of [1:13] choice in Iran and whatever night other nightmares he dreams up with. So based on [1:18] how this administration has conducted itself with the last year our adversaries [1:21] are learning that the United States is not a reliable negotiator. They're [1:25] learning that we will quickly turn to using force before working to alleviate [1:28] crisis points and prevent war. I'm very concerned that in turn that that in turn [1:32] increases the risk of our adversaries jumping to use force first increasing [1:37] risk to American citizens and American interests around the world. We saw that [1:40] instinct for the military option in the Caribbean and in Venezuela and now we're [1:44] seeing threats of it in Cuba while we're still engaged in the Middle East where [1:47] President Trump is blowing a shocking amount of money and failing to [1:51] uphold his solemn duty to put our service members at risk only for the most [1:54] serious and imminent national security threats to American people. Mr. Secretary [1:59] you also wear the hat of a national national security advisor so with both that [2:04] hat and as Secretary of State do you agree that this administration has spent more [2:08] on Trump's war in Iran than you are requesting today for this entire State [2:12] Department budget request? Yeah I can't speak to the Department of War would have to [2:15] speak to you about the money and what they calculate are the costs. I just I can't [2:19] give you an accurate answer on that because that's not the thing that I look at. I would [2:23] think you would have some over some some over some insight because you are on [2:29] national security. Well I've seen the testimony that Secretary Hegseth and [2:33] others have conducted in front of the their oversight committees but I just [2:36] can't I don't want to give you an answer that's not accurate. Okay well this [2:40] week let me let me let me put out some numbers that I have. This week the cost of [2:44] President Trump's illegal war choice against Iran are likely to balloon past 35 [2:47] billion dollars by the ring DOD's own May calculations and surpass your FY 2027 budget [2:54] request of 35.1 billion for the State Department and related programs. That's an astonishing figure. Worth [3:00] repeating in just 14 weeks 14 weeks President Trump will have blown through as much if [3:05] not more money in Iran than he thinks Congress should spend on US diplomacy for the [3:09] entirety of the next fiscal year. This administration's distorted priorities have [3:15] unfortunately revealed some stark lessons for our allies and partners as well. The [3:19] United States use of force first will make them less secure as they'll be [3:21] caught in the crossfire left scrambling to protect themselves and their people. [3:25] Mr. Secretary do you agree that under Operation Epic Fury our allies and [3:29] partners in the region have expressed concern about their security and the [3:32] threats are followed from this administration's uncoordinated actions? No I [3:36] think our allies in the region have been very cooperative some obviously very [3:39] aggressively cooperative like the UAE as an example Kuwait's been [3:43] fantastic. Obviously no country likes to have their oil and their energy [3:47] infrastructure hit but I think it's a reminder to them of the threat that Iran [3:50] poses and the one lesson when this is all said and done is it's reminded them of [3:54] you know despite all the friendly talk that you've seen in the past how [3:57] dangerous Iran is to their own interests how the billions of dollars Iran has [4:01] spent despite sanctions Iran found the money to build drones and rockets and [4:05] luckily we've taken a lot of them out but they still have some and they [4:07] still have the ability. My question is about our allies in region expressing [4:10] concerns because you see public reporting in early May revealed that Saudi Arabia [4:15] denied US basing and overflight related to Trump's ill-conceived plan to escort [4:19] ships through the Straits of Hormuz and they're still not supportive of this risky [4:22] tanker escort plan and the strait is still worse off today than it was before [4:26] Trump initiated this war and that doesn't even touch on the wider global [4:30] lessons being learned by our allies and partners. Yeah we don't face any. From the Shangri-La [4:34] dialogue where I heard from folks across the Indo-Pacific and especially in [4:37] Southeast Asia who are being hit hard by the same rising energy costs that are [4:40] devastating American communities and frankly this administration insists on [4:44] using military force as a first resort instead of a last resort no matter the [4:48] deadly cause of self-defeating impacts. Your budget request here would sadly [4:52] perpetuate that trend and undermine the roles and responsibilities that you should [4:55] be fulfilling a Secretary of State. Thank you Mr. Chairman I yield back. Okay I didn't get to answer any of that. [5:00] I didn't ask her a question. Well she didn't answer any of that. Did you want me to answer? Can I answer any of that? [5:04] No I didn't ask him a question. Okay well but she made a bunch of points I get to answer them right? [5:07] First of all I don't understand this thing but let me tell you we were just here maybe you [5:12] weren't here we were just talking about it we did a peace deal with Azerbaijan and [5:15] Armenia we just signed the trip agreement to yesterday actually or last week we [5:19] signed it last night I officialized it that that was diplomacy. That's great but the [5:23] administration is still blown through. When do I get to talk to you? Do I get to [5:26] talk to you? Senator Duckworth I'm gonna let Senator Rubio reply to the [5:33] statements that you made at his request. Yeah that's but we want we've got a [5:38] hard stop at 1230. Okay but I know but you said a lot of stuff I get to answer [5:41] some of it. All right so the first is the the second is India Pakistan we ended [5:45] that war we were involved in helping broker that Thailand Cambodia that's [5:48] diplomacy we've been very engaged and in fact as I sit here now speaking to you I've [5:53] got the Lebanese government and the Israeli government meeting at the State [5:56] Department starting at 830 this morning for the fourth time after engaging last [6:00] week at the military level so we're carrying out now you know I we're [6:04] carrying out diplomacy all over the world constantly and very successfully in many [6:07] cases now let me make one more point that you raise about the budget request [6:11] guys we understand how this process works okay you guys understand I know [6:14] because I've been here all the time we OMB produces sort of timelines for every [6:18] agency we put forward a budget we said this is the money we've been [6:21] allocated this is how we would spend it there is a congressional process which [6:25] I'm sure you're aware of and in my time here 16 years that I was here I don't [6:29] ever recall us once ever taking the president's budget and passing it into [6:32] law I'm not walking away from the budget we can make it work if that's the [6:35] budget you give us but I have a sense I have a suspicion right Senator Schatz that [6:40] we're not that we're gonna have to work with you got shots that we're gonna have [6:43] to well you know that we're gonna have to that we're gonna have to work with you [6:47] guys on a budget request that meets your priorities and ours that's how it works [6:50] you guys are the appropriators we have to work within the con we will tell you [6:54] what we care about we will tell you how we're gonna spend the money but ultimately [6:57] you will provide a suspending bill and we will work through those parameters but [7:01] we have given you what we can live with we can make it work but if you wanted you [7:04] know if you're obviously gonna have changes here in Congress but this stuff [7:08] about diplomacy and the money spent on the war diplomacy is always cost less money we [7:12] don't buy missiles we don't buy rockets we don't buy large airplanes and aircraft [7:16] carriers but we've been very effective and I can give you list after list of [7:20] places that we have had an impact in either de-escalating crisis before it [7:23] started or ending active wars and I'm very proud of the work that we've done in [7:27] that regard some of which haven't even publicly discussed in some cases because [7:30] they weren't high-profile and my last point we remain heavily engaged in areas [7:35] that may not at the core of our national interest but nonetheless are related to our [7:38] national interest you look you think about Sudan for a moment in the quad [7:42] this has been a very frustrating situation to put together but we helped [7:45] convene a donor conference that got pledges for when that is resolved we put [7:50] a lot of time and energy in a situation there and now unfortunately has turned [7:53] into a proxy in the Middle East because of the UAE and the Saudis on opposite sides [7:57] of it in Libya where our work in Libya now has it's still divided but they for the [8:02] first time ever have a joint budget for the first time ever are cooperating on [8:06] energy deals that are going to be beneficial to the people of Libya so I just [8:09] don't think it's fair to say we're not actively involved in [8:11] diplomacy our last year's budget and spending because we are and we have been [8:15] and to great success thank you