Marco Rubio joined the Senate in 2011 and became Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in 2023 after six years as acting chair or ranking member.1 He championed the 2020 Intelligence Authorization language that compelled the DNI to deliver an unclassified UAP assessment within 180 days, giving the public its first official count of military reports.2
Policy positions
Rubio describes unknown aerial objects as a safety concern and potential foreign technology threat, urging "serious, methodical analysis free of stigma."3 He co-sponsored the 2023 whistle-blower immunity clause allowing insiders to testify about hidden retrieval programs.4
Bipartisan collaboration
Working with Senator Gillibrand, Rubio supported creation of AARO and endorsed full-time appropriations for data fusion across the Defense and Intelligence Communities.5
Secretary of State initiatives (2025)
After unanimous Senate confirmation in January 2025, Rubio became the first Latino Secretary of State.6 He retained his UAP transparency agenda, briefing NATO ministers on the National Archives records schedule and proposing an International Anomalous Phenomena Data-Sharing Compact to standardize incident reporting across allied airspace. In April 2025 remarks laying out his State Department overhaul he pledged to embed a small UAP liaison cell within the Bureau of Intelligence and Research to coordinate with AARO and foreign partners.78