Rubio Has Intense Exchange With Senator

By
Gregory McMullen
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In a fiery Senate hearing that blurred the lines between diplomacy and domestic security, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) clashed over visa revocations, foreign policy, and the fundamental question of who gets to come—and stay—in America.

The exchange, which unfolded during a session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was not just a policy dispute—it was a showdown of ideological worldviews, exposing deep fissures over immigration, national security, and campus unrest.

The hearing was ostensibly focused on the State Department’s budget, but Van Hollen used his time to denounce what he called Rubio’s “campaign of fear and repression”—a reference to the administration’s crackdown on foreign nationals allegedly involved in violent protests on U.S. college campuses. Comparing Rubio to Sen. Joseph McCarthy, Van Hollen accused the Trump administration of weaponizing visa policy against political dissent.

And he didn’t stop there.

“I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for Secretary of State,” Van Hollen declared.

Rubio’s response? Blunt and unshaken:

“Your regret for voting for me confirms I’m doing a good job.”

That triggered an explosive back-and-forth, with Van Hollen attempting to reclaim time, only for Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) to intervene:

“Your time is up, Mr. Senator—and woefully used, I might add.”

Rubio then laid out the administration’s stance in no uncertain terms.

“A visa is not a right. It is a privilege,” he said. “If you’re coming here to stir up trouble on our campuses, we will deny you a visa. And if you have a visa and we find you, we will revoke it.”

Rubio dismissed claims that the State Department was engaging in dragnet-style targeting.

“We don’t deport anybody. We don’t snatch anybody. What I do is revoke visas,” he said.

He framed the crackdown as a targeted, lawful response to criminality and chaos, not a partisan or ideological purge. The point was clear: if foreign nationals abuse the privilege of entering the U.S. by committing violence or engaging in organized disruptions, they forfeit that privilege.

Then came a cutting personal strike from Rubio, referencing Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a deported Maryland man:

“We deported gang members… including the one you had a margarita with,” Rubio said, calling Garcia “a human trafficker” and “gangbanger,” and promising more evidence would soon emerge.

That triggered an immediate protest from Van Hollen, who accused Rubio of making “unsubstantiated comments” and challenged him to repeat them under oath. Risch had to gavel him down to allow Rubio to finish.

The exchange revealed just how sharply divided Congress is over how to handle campus protests, foreign nationals, and domestic unrest. While Van Hollen portrayed Rubio’s policies as authoritarian and anti-democratic, Rubio positioned himself as defending the rule of law and the safety of American students and institutions.

A senior State Department official later doubled down in a statement to Fox News Digital:

“Once again, Senator Van Hollen proves that he cares more about illegal immigrants than his own constituents.”

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