VICTOR JOECKS: Rubio shows ‘America First’ is more than a slogan

The American government should put America first. That seems obvious, but Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio just laid out why it hasn’t been happening.

On Wednesday, Rubio had his Senate confirmation hearing. Democrats seemed largely supportive of their colleague. There weren’t the fireworks seen in Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s hearing. But Rubio gave the audience plenty of reasons to pay attention.

Rubio started by identifying a fundamental mistake made by America’s Chicken Little elites.

“Out of the triumphalism of the end of the long Cold War emerged a bipartisan consensus. And this consensus was that we had reached ‘the end of history,’ ” Rubio said. Those leaders thought “that all mankind was now destined to abandon national sovereignty and national identity and would instead become ‘one human family’ and ‘citizens of the world.’ This wasn’t just a fantasy; we now know it was a dangerous delusion.”

That delusion led to the unchecked illegal immigration that threatens our country. Just look at the U.S. citizens murdered by illegal immigrants.

In contrast, non-Western countries, notably China, have continued to advance their own interests.

“We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into the global order,” Rubio said. “And they took advantage of all of its benefits. And they ignored all of its obligations and responsibilities. Instead, they have repressed and lied and cheated and hacked and stolen their way into global superpower status.”

He continued, “The postwar global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us.”

This is a powerful insight, and it applies to more than just foreign policy. Too many Republicans refuse to govern aggressively when they obtain power. On the surface, this makes sense. If you support limited government, you should want to limit the power exercised by elected officials, including yourself.

The problem is that government does have core functions. For example, the K-12 and higher education systems are in the Nevada Constitution. Democrats have no problem using their power to shape them. When Republicans won’t do the same after they take power, these institutions become bastions of unchecked liberalism. The left uses Republicans’ belief in limited government as a weapon to prevent them from governing effectively.

But sitting on your hands isn’t limited government. It’s a dereliction of the duty voters gave you. The most successful governors, like Florida’s Ron DeSantis, understand this. Sadly, there’s little evidence that Gov. Joe Lombardo does.

This is one reason that Republican voters gravitated to Donald Trump in 2015. The Republican establishment kept losing. Before Trump, they seemed generally resigned to doing so. Rubio’s previous support of a 2013 amnesty bill was evidence of that.

By rejecting libertarian passivity, Trump gave Republican voters a chance to win and win big. That includes on the world stage with a changed Rubio leading the way.

“America First” isn’t an empty slogan. It represents a much needed restructuring of the country’s — and conservatives’ — priorities.

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.