Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently made jokes about how many high-profile roles he holds in former President Donald Trump’s administration. Besides running the entire State Department, Rubio is also acting as National Security Adviser after Mike Waltz left the position. Waltz stepped down after a scandal and is now nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Rubio has also taken on more duties. He’s serving as the acting head of USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development) and as the acting National Archivist, which means he’s helping lead both foreign aid and historical records management. Speaking at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute Gala on Wednesday, Rubio made light of his growing list of responsibilities.
“When I joined the administration, early on they said, you know, one of the initiatives we are pursuing is to increase efficiency in government,” Rubio said during his speech. “In essence they want to be able to do more while, you know, spending less.”
He continued, “And for example, they said, one of the things we want you to look at is consolidation. Can you take, for example, what today are four jobs and give them all to one person? And I said, that sounds like a great idea, let’s do that across the government.”
Then he added with a laugh, “Little did I know they just meant me.” His audience responded with laughter as he listed the many jobs he’s currently doing: Secretary of State, acting National Security Adviser, acting Archivist of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and acting Director of USAID.
Rubio became National Security Adviser after Waltz was involved in a controversy where he accidentally added a journalist to a group chat that was discussing potential military actions against a Houthi target. This incident earlier in the year led to his reassignment. Although some see the move to Ambassador to the United Nations as a step down, Trump said it’s a role Waltz prefers.
At the gala, Rubio joked that he was eyeing yet another job—U.S. Surgeon General. “It’s always flattering to receive an award and be recognized,” he said, before reviewing his list of roles. “You were Speaker, you were a member of the Senate, you were the chairman of this – you’re now secretary of state, and National Security Adviser, and the acting archivist, and the acting USAID director,” Rubio said, getting laughs from the crowd.
“And the surgeon general—no, I’m kidding, I’m not that,” he joked. “I wanted it, I wanted it, you get a uniform. Did you know you get a uniform if you’re the Surgeon General?” He added, “I wanted it, but they’d given it away. You know what’d be good? Library of Congress, that’d be a good job.”
Trump recently nominated Casey Means as the new U.S. Surgeon General after withdrawing his previous pick, Janette Nesheiwat. Her qualifications were questioned after CBS News reported she graduated from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, not the University of Arkansas School of Medicine as previously thought.
Casey Means is a physician and a healthcare entrepreneur known for her work in chronic disease prevention and her ties to the Make America Healthy Again (MAGA) movement.
