WMUR. ARIELLE MITROPOULOS WAS LISTENING IN TO THAT FOR US. WELL, JEN, AS YOU SAID, IT WAS DEFINITELY A LOT LESS HEATED TODAY. SENATOR RUBIO HAS SERVED ON THE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE SINCE 2011, SO HE KNOWS THESE SENATORS. HE IS CERTAINLY NOT USED TO BEING THE ONE ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS, THOUGH, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS INTERRUPTED BY PROTESTERS CONDEMNING THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR. THE HEARING WAS PRETTY SMOOTH. HE’S EXPECTED TO SAIL THROUGH THE CONFIRMATION WITHOUT MUCH ISSUE. DURING TODAY’S HEARING, RUBIO RE-EMPHASIZED HIS SUPPORT FOR NATO AND SAID THAT CHINA IS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THE U.S. WE ALSO HEARD FROM SENATOR JEANNE SHAHEEN, WHO’S NOW THE TOP DEMOCRAT ON THE COMMITTEE. SHE STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORTING UKRAINE, AND RUBIO SAID, SIMPLY PUT, HE BELIEVES THIS WAR NEEDS TO END. I KNOW THAT FOR SO MANY AMERICANS, THIS MIGHT SEEM LIKE A DISTANT WAR. BUT AS WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN UKRAINE DOESN’T STAY IN UKRAINE. NOW, WHAT VLADIMIR PUTIN HAS DONE IS UNACCEPTABLE. THERE’S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. BUT THIS WAR HAS TO END, AND I THINK IT SHOULD BE THE OFFICIAL POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES THAT WE WANT TO SEE IT END. NOW, DURING TODAY’S HEARING, THE CEASE FIRE DEAL WAS ANNOUNCED. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE WAR, SENATOR RUBIO REPEATEDLY DEFENDED ISRAEL’S ACTIONS IN GAZA.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody chosen to fill Marco Rubio’s Senate seat
Updated: 11:00 AM EST Jan 16, 2025
By KATE PAYNE Associated Press
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody will take Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday, making Moody only the second woman to represent Florida in the chamber.Video above: Rubio faces questioning during secretary of state nomination hearingElected as the state’s top law enforcement officer in 2018, Moody campaigned on a pledge to voters that she’d be a prosecutor, not a politician. Along with DeSantis, Moody boosted her political profile during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling on the federal government to “hold China responsible” for the outbreak.Before running for statewide office, Moody worked as a federal prosecutor. In 2006, she was elected to the post of circuit judge in Hillsborough County, home to Tampa.As the state’s attorney general, Moody has been instrumental in defending DeSantis’ conservative agenda in court and has joined other Republican-led states in challenging the Biden administration’s policies, suing over changes to immigration enforcement, student loan forgiveness and vaccine mandates for federal contractors.“I’m happy to say we’ve had an Attorney General that is somebody that has acted time and time again to support the values that we all share,” DeSantis said at a news conference at an Orlando hotel.Under Florida law, it’s up to the Republican governor to pick Rubio’s replacement, after President-elect Donald Trump picked the three-term senator to be his next secretary of state. Moody will serve in the Senate until the next general election in 2026, when the seat will be back on the ballot.Moody fought unsuccessfully to keep an abortion rights measure off the ballot in Florida in 2024, saying proponents were waging “a war” to protect the procedure. The measure did go before voters but ultimately failed to get the 60% approval needed to pass.She was also among the state attorneys general to sign on to the lawsuit backed by Trump aimed at overturning Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020.Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters, a key Trump ally in the state, was among those who had pushed the president-elect’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump as their top pick for the Senate seat. Lara Trump removed herself from consideration in December.Still, Gruters praised Moody, calling her “a winner here in Florida.”“She’s very popular. And I think people see the job that she does and they appreciate her work and her effort at trying to … keep Florida safe,” Gruters said ahead of the announcement.Moody’s appointment opens up a key vacancy in Florida’s Cabinet, giving DeSantis another shot at expanding his influence in the state. DeSantis will also get to pick a replacement for outgoing Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who’s leaving his post to run for former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s open seat in Congress.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody will take Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday, making Moody only the second woman to represent Florida in the chamber.
Video above: Rubio faces questioning during secretary of state nomination hearing
Elected as the state’s top law enforcement officer in 2018, Moody campaigned on a pledge to voters that she’d be a prosecutor, not a politician. Along with DeSantis, Moody boosted her political profile during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling on the federal government to “hold China responsible” for the outbreak.
Before running for statewide office, Moody worked as a federal prosecutor. In 2006, she was elected to the post of circuit judge in Hillsborough County, home to Tampa.
As the state’s attorney general, Moody has been instrumental in defending DeSantis’ conservative agenda in court and has joined other Republican-led states in challenging the Biden administration’s policies, suing over changes to immigration enforcement, student loan forgiveness and vaccine mandates for federal contractors.
“I’m happy to say we’ve had an Attorney General that is somebody that has acted time and time again to support the values that we all share,” DeSantis said at a news conference at an Orlando hotel.
Under Florida law, it’s up to the Republican governor to pick Rubio’s replacement, after President-elect Donald Trump picked the three-term senator to be his next secretary of state. Moody will serve in the Senate until the next general election in 2026, when the seat will be back on the ballot.
Moody fought unsuccessfully to keep an abortion rights measure off the ballot in Florida in 2024, saying proponents were waging “a war” to protect the procedure. The measure did go before voters but ultimately failed to get the 60% approval needed to pass.
She was also among the state attorneys general to sign on to the lawsuit backed by Trump aimed at overturning Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020.
Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters, a key Trump ally in the state, was among those who had pushed the president-elect’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump as their top pick for the Senate seat. Lara Trump removed herself from consideration in December.
Still, Gruters praised Moody, calling her “a winner here in Florida.”
“She’s very popular. And I think people see the job that she does and they appreciate her work and her effort at trying to … keep Florida safe,” Gruters said ahead of the announcement.
Moody’s appointment opens up a key vacancy in Florida’s Cabinet, giving DeSantis another shot at expanding his influence in the state. DeSantis will also get to pick a replacement for outgoing Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who’s leaving his post to run for former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s open seat in Congress.
