Ryan Nicol
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will take over as acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after his predecessor, Richard Burr, stepped down in light of an FBI investigation into his stock transactions.
Rubio will serve in an interim role, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, announced Monday.
“The senior Senator for Florida is a talented and experienced Senate leader with expertise in foreign affairs and national security matters,” McConnell said in a written statement.
“His proven leadership on pertinent issues only made the decision easier.”
Rubio added a statement of his own Monday after McConnell made the move.
“I am grateful to Leader McConnell for his confidence in me to lead the Senate Intelligence Committee during Senator Burr’s absence from the Chairmanship,” Rubio said.
“The Committee has long been one that conducts its work seriously, and I look forward to continuing that tradition.”
Burr has courted controversy after making a series of stock sales in January and February, as the COVID-19 crisis had yet to establish a stranglehold on the nation.
Burr, however, received closed-door hearings on the virus’s potential impact well in advance of shutdown orders. The stock sales were made weeks before the stock market collapsed as stay-at-home orders nationwide ground the economy to a halt.
Last week, Burr turned over his cell phone to the FBI as part of an investigation. Burr quickly resigned as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Senator Rubio has spent a decade as a leading member of the Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees. His care for our nation’s security, advocacy for our values and interests, and vigilance toward threats have earned a national reputation,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
“On subjects ranging from China and Russia to Iran and North Korea to tyranny and unrest in our own hemisphere, Senator Rubio has been on the case for years.”
