Van Hollen Tells Rubio 'I Regret Voting for You' in Heated Senate Hearing
The video shows extended footage from the May 20, 2025, Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the State Department FY2026 budget. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) used nearly seven minutes to accuse Secretary of State Marco Rubio of betraying shared values by supporting deep USAID cuts (including in Sudan amid famine and alleged genocide in Darfur), prioritizing white South African refugees while cutting aid elsewhere, failing to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and revoking student visas for pro-Palestinian speech, likening it to McCarthyism. Van Hollen ended by stating he regretted voting to confirm Rubio. Rubio responded that the regret confirmed he was performing well, defended specific aid cuts as eliminating waste (e.g., $10M for male circumcision in Mozambique, $14M for social cohesion in Mali, $227K for a Big Cats YouTube channel), argued judges cannot dictate foreign policy or diplomacy details, and said student visas are a privilege revoked for those involved in campus violence or disruption, not mere speech. The narrator then provides conservative analysis framing the exchange as exposing two visions of U.S. foreign policy.
Source: LIBERTY LEDGER