South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Demings rips Rubio for skipping 14 Senate hearings
Absences may be part of GOP boycott, pledge to not vote for Biden’s State Department nominees
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has missed as many as 14 Senate hearings over the past two months, a practice the Republican was criticized for six years ago as he launched a bid for the presidency.
But many of his absences since September have been part of either a GOP boycott of the Small Business Committee or a pledge to not vote for any of President Biden’s State Department nominees.
U.S. Rep. Val Demings, his likely opponent in next year’s U.S. Senate race, blasted Rubio’s absenteeism.
“I served as a law enforcement officer for 27 years, and if an officer had failed to show up for their shifts for 14 days they would have been fired — period,” Demings, D-Orlando, said in a statement. “It’s clear that after over a decade in Washington, Marco Rubio doesn’t understand those values. Florida needs a U.S. Senator who understands and lives those values.”
Rubio did not appear at nine Foreign Relations hearings since Sept. 22, most of which focused on Biden nominations.
The Nov. 2 hearing, for instance, involved Biden’s nominations for ambassadors for four European countries. The Oct. 26 hearing dealt with two ambassadors, the U.S. directors of two international banking associations, and the assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs.
Rubio has so far opposed all of Biden’s nominees to the State Department. In August, he announced he would oppose all national security position nominees until the White House answered questions about his claim that Biden shared the names of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies with the Taliban amid the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan earlier this year.
While he has missed many of the recent nomination hearings, Rubio has shown up to make high-profile votes. In October, he voted against Tom Nides, Biden’s appointee as ambassador to Israel, and this month he voted against former Chicago Mayor and President Obama aide Rahm Emanuel, the nominee for ambassador to Japan also opposed by some Democrats.
Rubio also missed all three hearings of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee in September and October. But so did the other Republicans.
Ranking Republican member U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is leading a boycott of the committee over Biden’s nomination of Dilawar Syed to be deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Republicans, including Rubio, sent a letter to the committee chair in June questioning Syed over his involvement with the group Emgage Action, which the letter describes as “anti-Israel.” Syed would become the highest-ranking Muslim official in U.S. history if confirmed.
Because of the Republican boycott, the committee has been unable to maintain a quorum and Syed’s nomination has failed to advance.
Rubio also missed both hearings of the Special Committee on Aging in September and October.
The committee does not have any legislative authority and does not advance bills or approve nominees.
But it does look into and highlight issues dealing with the elderly.
The Sept. 23 meeting dealt with how con artists have targeted older Americans during the pandemic, while the Oct. 28 meeting focused on “Building a Stronger Retirement System.”
A spokesman in Rubio’s office highlighted his legislative record while also citing his leadership role on the important Intelligence Committee.
“Senator Rubio is ranked as one of the most effective senators at passing meaningful legislation into law while also fulfilling his significant obligations as Vice-Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee,” Rubio office spokesman Dan Holler said.
The Intelligence Committee hasn’t held an open meeting since one dealing with China in August. But it has held 12 closed hearings
since then.
Rubio’s reelection campaign defended his record in comparison with Demings.
“Sen. Rubio passed more substantive bills through Congress in the last 10 months than do-nothing Democrat Val Demings has in five years,” said campaign spokeswoman Elizabeth Gregory.
She said Rubio “helped save half a million Florida small businesses and millions of jobs through the creation of the Paycheck Protection Program, delivered tax relief for hard-working families by doubling the child tax credit, and fought to provide veterans the health care they deserve.”
Those are all measures that passed Congress with the support of Republicans and Democrats alike.
Rubio has gotten in hot water before over his attendance record. In 2015, Politico called him an
“absentee senator” who “has been playing hooky more than the rest of the 2016 class.”
Rubio at the time was running for president instead of reelection, saying of the Senate, “I don’t know that ‘hate’ is the right word. I’m frustrated.”
But after getting walloped in Florida GOP primary by Donald Trump, he dropped out of the presidential race and filed for reelection anyway, easily winning over his Democratic opponent. A 2015 story noted how he had been critical of the Obama administration over hostages in Iran but skipped the resolution calling for their release.
A review by the Tampa Bay Times in early 2016, spurred by criticism from presidential rival Jeb Bush, found Rubio had missed 68% of his committee hearings, including 80% of Commerce hearings and 85% of Small Business.