Senate confirms Marco Rubio as secretary of state in first Trump Cabinet post approval
CBSN
Washington — The Senate on Monday confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state, making him the first of President Trump's Cabinet nominees to win the approval of the upper chamber.
The Senate confirmed Rubio in a 99 to 0 vote as his former colleagues in the Senate touted his qualifications for the job.
Rubio has represented Florida in the Senate since 2011 and resigned Monday upon Mr. Trump's inauguration. The 53-year-old China hawk has extensive foreign policy experience and was widely considered to have among the smoothest paths to confirmation in the Senate.
Washington — President Trump delivered an inaugural address after he was sworn in for a second term Monday, promising that he'll bring the United States into a "golden age" and rescue the nation from what he claimed was a "decline" wrought by his predecessor's policies.
With just moments left before he leaves office, President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents.
More than 18,000 Costco workers will be walking picket lines in less than two weeks if a labor dispute over wages and benefits is not resolved, according to the Teamsters union.
President-elect Donald Trump will sign roughly 200 executive actions, memoranda and proclamations on his first day in office, CBS News has learned, undoing Biden administration mandates and implementing his "America first" policies.
Washington — President-elect Donald Trump is planning to invoke muscular presidential powers to begin a sweeping crackdown on immigration after his inauguration on Monday, tasking the military with border enforcement, designating cartels and gangs as terrorist groups, shutting down asylum and refugee admissions and attempting to terminate birthright citizenship.
President Biden announced early Monday before leaving office that he would be preemptively pardoning several people who could be targeted with President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark A. Milley and members of the House Jan. 6 committee and their staff.
Beijing — China has executed two men who committed deadly attacks that killed dozens in November, raising concerns about a surge in what are called "revenge on society crimes," state media reported Monday.
Monday marks an unusual coincidence with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday, falling on the same day as Donald Trump's second inauguration, which may prompt questions about whether businesses and services are open on Jan. 20.
The U.S. is marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal holiday set aside to honor the life of the civil rights icon. But in Alabama and Mississippi, Monday is also Robert E. Lee Day in honor of the Confederate general.
President-elect Donald Trump promised a spate of executive orders when he takes office as president Monday, suggesting at a Sunday rally in Washington, D.C., that among them will be action on the Jan. 6 rioters.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are heading back to California after the inauguration, a senior administration official confirmed Sunday.
A man accused of setting a fire at a strip mall in Wisconsin where a congressman's office is located told authorities he was motivated by the federal ban on TikTok.
Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with entrepreneur Elon Musk, is expected to soon step away from the task force, CBS News has learned. Ramaswamy intends to announce a campaign for Ohio governor as soon as the end of January, multiple sources confirmed to CBS News.
While Monday's inauguration ceremony for President-elect Donald Trump is set to break with tradition and take place inside the Capitol due to dangerously low temperatures, it's not the first presidential swearing in to take place in an unusual place — one president was even sworn in aboard a plane.
Washington — President Biden issued a handful of pardons in his final full day in office, granting clemency to individuals who he said have "made significant contributions to improving their communities" as the sun sets on his presidency.