Rubio Could Prove A Potential Gop Savior — But He May Not Escape Congress’ Ire

Newly ascendant Democrats on Capitol Hill aren't planning to make it easy for Marco Rubio to ride to the GOP's rescue in 2028.

The secretary of State's appeal to Latinos and relatively strong standing in Washington may offer Republicans, battered by this week's midterm elections, hope that they can bridge their internal divides and hold onto the White House. “The number of people who want to draft Secretary of State Marco Rubio is staggering,” former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote Wednesday on social media.

But Democratic lawmakers are likely to make Rubio a top target for oversight and other hearings in the new Congress — grilling him on the Iran war, legally questionable strikes on alleged drug boats, deals related to Venezuelan oil and more, according to a House Democratic aide and a Senate Democratic aide familiar with the discussions. Similarly aggressive scrutiny from Republican lawmakers helped tarnish former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s image during the years before she ran for president in 2016.

Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser, has largely avoided the criticism aimed at President Donald Trump’s Iran war and other major crises — but that doesn’t absolve him of responsibility for administration failures, Democrats said.

“He belongs near the top of the list of people who must answer to congressional oversight,” said the Democratic Senate aide, who, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.

Democrats are still mapping out their accountability strategy, so any plans at the moment are tenuous. They stress that their actions are not about 2028 but about fulfilling Congress’ oversight duties, which they say Republicans failed to do during their time in charge. Democrats also are more interested in other Trump-related figures, especially Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — a fellow rumored 2028 hopeful — who is facing a possible House impeachment vote this month.

Rubio, meanwhile, has downplayed talk that he would run for president. He told The New York Times on Thursday that he planned to serve as chief diplomat for Trump’s full term, even as stories circulated in some news organizations that he was considering quitting.

But staying in office for any length of time makes it more likely Democrats will pursue oversight of his actions. It also puts him at a potential disadvantage compared with some 2028 hopefuls who have never served in the administration or, such as with Vice President JD Vance, are elsewhere in its ranks.

Democrats in Congress have a clear line of authority to compel Rubio — a Senate-confirmed Cabinet department chief — to testify, regardless of whether he remains in or leaves the administration. Should he refuse to testify, that gives Democrats even more ammunition for criticism.

In contrast, White House personnel, including the vice president, have traditionally been exempt from being hauled up to the Hill. And the Trump administration is likely to invoke such traditions, executive privilege or other measures to shield its staff from Hill hearings.

Asked about Democrats’ planned oversight moves, a State Department official touted Rubio’s leadership in executing Trump’s foreign policy agenda.

“We will not only defend our record but proudly tout the historic foreign policy successes of the Trump Administration,” said the official, granted anonymity to share how the department would respond to Democrats’ demand for testimony.

The White House insisted Trump would be happy to partner with the same people he has antagonized for two years.

He is “willing to work with anyone to continue delivering victories for hardworking Americans,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said. “If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people.”

Since the election drubbing, other potential 2028 candidates have tried to distance themselves from Trump’s unpopular actions.

Vance released a statement blaming the Iran war as the main reason for the loss. Outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ran for president in 2024, gave a lengthy interview in which he criticized Trump policies and said the midterms were an “extinction-level” event for the party.

Rubio has said little publicly since Tuesday’s election, although he acknowledged to the Timesthat higher gas prices likely affected the vote. But he added that Trump deserved credit for making an unpopular choice on Iran.

That loyalty to the president has won him favor within the White House and among many of Trump’s hardcore MAGA voters.

Despite his close alignment with the president, Rubio has also managed to cultivate appeal with more traditional Republicans, who believe he could help strengthen conventional conservatives.

"He'd make an excellent candidate and help the Republican Party return to small 'c' conservative values, in line with where the electorate is," said Ludovic Hood, a former longtime U.S. diplomat who recently left the State Department. "He's a savvy politician, a great communicator."

Prior to the election, Rubio held to State Department tradition and avoided the campaign until the final days when Trump briefly lured him onto the trail.

Asked about a potential Rubio bid, the State Department official echoed his denials, saying “those who reported this will be mocked in the coming weeks when Secretary Rubio is still proudly serving under President Trump.”

Matthew Bartlett, a GOP strategist and former Trump appointee at the State Department, downplayed the likelihood of a Rubio campaign launch, saying he faced a nearly impossible task of disentangling from Trump’s foreign policy failures.

"If you're in this Cabinet, you're wearing cement shoes," Bartlett said.

Even if Rubio did launch a 2028 bid, he’s ill-equipped to respond to voter scrutiny over the war, Bartlett said. "Diplomatic talk may be appreciated among those that wear white wingtips,” he said, “but in the town halls, straight talk is appropriate, and I'm not sure that you can give a straight answer on Iran right now."

But Rubio has changed his mind about whether to run for office before.

Buzz Jacobs, who advised Rubio during his 2016 presidential campaign, said that if Rubio decides to leave soon to run for president, he “has to navigate a careful exit from the administration, so it doesn't look like he's abandoning his duties at a time of war,” while also ensuring he has the time he needs to fundraise and build a campaign.

Unusually for someone in his position, Rubio has taken a back seat on major portfolios, including the wars in Iran, Ukraine and Gaza. Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have played bigger roles in those crises.

Rubio has instead focused largely on Latin America. He’s overseeing U.S. efforts to topple the regime in Cuba, his ancestral homeland. He’s also the main U.S. interlocutor for what’s left of the regime in Venezuela after the Trump administration captured autocrat Nicolás Maduro.

Rubio may seem less politically scarred by the administration’s struggles in places such as Iran. But some critics question why he didn’t do more to course correct given his titles and responsibilities. Rubio’s role as national security adviser in particular means he’s supposed to coordinate major foreign policy moves across the government.

On Iran in particular, Rubio is “trying to keep his hands clean on this because he probably knows it's a politically bad issue. But he is responsible even if he's not out there running this every day,” the Democratic House aide said.

In March, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the likely incoming chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, pushed a failed motion to subpoena Rubio to appear before the panel to talk about the Iran war.

Nearly half of Democratic respondents to a pre-midterm POLITICO poll said they wanted to see the House impeach Rubio.

Some Rubio supporters noted that conditions could change.

“If they can bring the Iran war to a successful conclusion between now and when people may vote, then Marco Rubio will look like an absolute genius,“ Jacobs said.

Some of Rubio’s efforts in Latin America might be cast as potential successes, including the removal of Maduro from his perch in Caracas. The Latin America moves in particular might please many of his fellow Latinos in Florida and beyond. Latino votes proved critical in the midterm results this week.

But Democrats are questioning Rubio’s long-term vision in Latin America, too.

Of particular interest is Rubio’s role in Trump’s efforts to battle drug cartels, which include U.S. military strikes on boats that some legal experts and senior Democrats say could amount to war crimes. There are also concerns about business deals the Trump administration and its allies are striking in Venezuela.

Curt Mills, executive director of the anti-interventionist American Conservative magazine and a vocal critic of the Iran war, marveled at Rubio’s seeming invisibility in recent days.

“Is Rubio going to say that this midterm was about the war? Is he going to say anything? Is he going to do anything? Or is he just focused on himself and Latin America?” Mills asked.