The Senate on Monday unanimously confirmed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) as the 72nd U.S. Secretary of State, installing the first member of President Trump’s Cabinet on the day of his inauguration.

Rubio’s confirmation vote passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, 99-0. Rubio was also able to cast a vote for himself.

“No one in this body can doubt that Marco Rubio is an intelligent man with a remarkable understanding of American foreign policy and a very deep commitment to the American dream,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in remarks on the Senate floor.

Rubio’s Senate seat will be filled by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.

The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio is the first Hispanic to serve as a top diplomat.

A 14-year veteran of the Senate, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Rubio’s nomination for secretary of state brought relief to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and America’s allies abroad worried about Trump’s unpredictable and chaotic approach to foreign affairs.

Along with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virg.), Rubio sponsored legislation that would prevent any president from withdrawing from NATO, a move seen as securing the U.S.’s position in the alliance in the face of Trump’s threats to withdraw the U.S. back.

In recent weeks, Trump has telegraphed imperialist goals and expressed his desire to take over ownership of Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark, as well as talk of making Canada the 51st state and taking over the Panama Canal from Panama.

“The United States will again consider itself a growing nation, a nation that increases our wealth, expands our territory,” Trump said during his inauguration speech.

In his speech, Trump highlighted regaining control of the Panama Canal as a necessity to counter China’s influence on the strategic waterway. Panama’s president has denied that the canal is under foreign influence.

Rubio said during his confirmation hearing that the presence of Chinese companies on both sides of the Channel has raised concerns among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and poses a national security risk to the United States — in an example of how he plans to thread the needle to explain some of Trump’s threats.

“In reality, a foreign power today, through their companies – which we know are not independent – possesses the ability to turn the canal into a choke point in a moment of conflict, and that is a direct threat to the national interests and security of the United States,” said he.

Rubio, considered a China hawk, is sending early signals of his focus on countering Beijing’s ambitions for global influence, planning bilateral meetings and group meetings in Washington with US allies on the front lines of Chinese aggression the day after the inauguration.

It includes a bilateral meeting with Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and a joint meeting with the foreign ministers of Japan, Australia and India, the so-called Quad.

The foreign ministers were present at Trump’s inauguration in the Capitol on Monday.

The group’s meeting demonstrates “an iron-clad commitment” to close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Washington on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Wong posted a photo from Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Capitol Hill with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. Also in the photo was Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg.

The meetings are expected to take place Tuesday, a nod to confidence that Rubio’s confirmation vote would pass quickly.

Rubio has called for making the State Department “highly relevant again,” but it is unclear how much influence the State Department will have in a Trump administration, where the president has appointed a number of special envoys to deal with specific foreign policy challenges.

Trump’s front-runner for special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, already has a victory under his belt by working hand-in-hand with the Biden administration to secure a cease-fire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas. Trump has also appointed a special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, part of his efforts to end the nearly three-year war.

And Trump has anointed Richard Grenell, his former ambassador to Germany, whose name was floated as a potential secretary of state, to the undefined role of the president’s envoy for special missions.

Rubio steps into a role filled by two people in Trump’s first term: Rex Tillerson, a former oil executive who was fired by Trump after 423 days in the role, and then Mike Pompeo, a former member of the House and CIA director under Trump.

Rubio was a fierce Trump critic during the 2016 Republican presidential race. But he has evolved into a staunch loyalist, a shift cemented when Trump tapped him for secretary of state a week after winning the election. He is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate again in 2028.

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