Marco Rubio has changed a lot since he ran for president in 2016. But his political evolution has made him uniquely qualified to be Trump's secretary of state.

The U.S. Senate on Monday unanimously confirmed Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a China hawk and staunch backer of Israel, as President Donald Trump's secretary of state.

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 Senate unanimously approved Senator Marco Rubio of Florida as secretary of state in the first vote on President Trump’s cabinet selections.

Hours after Trump was sworn in as president, senators confirmed his first Cabinet pick and advanced the nominations of several others through committee.

Vice President JD Vance swore in Marco Rubio as secretary of state on Jan. 21, the morning after the Senate unanimously voted to confirm his nomination.

Rubio lost to Trump in 2016 but he’s living his best life as Secretary of State, approved unanimously by his Senate colleagues.

ET Secretary of State Marco Rubio became the first Senate-confirmed official to be sworn into President Trump’s cabinet. Photo: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Marco Rubio, a veteran Republican senator who once ran against Donald Trump for the party’s presidential nomination, was confirmed as his secretary of state, the first of the president’s second-term nominees to be approved by the Senate.