TAMPA, Fla.  — Senator Marco Rubio and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi will appear before Senate sub-committees on Wednesday, Jan. 15, as they continue their paths into President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet.

Senator Rubio will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his nomination as Secretary of State, and Pam Bondi will appear before the Senate Judicial Committee for her nomination as Attorney General.

Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, has been a fixture in Trump’s orbit for years. Bondi, 59, was first elected Florida attorney general in 2010 and before that spent 18 years in the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office, prosecuting cases “ranging from domestic violence to capital murder,” according to her bio at Ballard Partners, the lobbying firm she joined in 2019. 

Meanwhile, for Rubio, the confirmation hearing begins a new chapter in the political career of the 53-year-old Florida Republican, whose relationship with Trump has evolved over the last decade. Once rivals trading schoolyard insults as they campaigned for president in 2016, the two men became close allies as Trump campaigned for another White House term last year. 

Rubio first came to Washington as part of the “tea party” wave in 2010 and once advocated for allowing a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. 

If confirmed, Rubio will become the leader of U.S. foreign policy.

Questions have been raised about Rubio’s perceived soft stance on China, and Bondi’s lobbying efforts in the past. However Spectrum News political analysts Bob Buckhorn and April Schiff say they expect both to be confirmed without any big issues.

“I do think they are good selections," Buckhorn said. "I do think they are going to pass with very few objections."

Senator Marco Rubio (right), nominated by President-Elect Trump, will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his nomination as Secretary of State. (AP image)

University of Central Florida professor John Sacher said it is uncommon for candidates to make it to a confirmation hearing and not also make it to the president's cabinet. 

Before the hearings, nominees go through background checks and usually remove themselves, if necessary, before this point. 

“I think the other significant things in terms of the state of Florida is Pam Bondi is going to be the second Attorney General from Florida after Janet Reno was the AG. Marco Rubio is going to be the first Latino secretary of state….And arguably the first secretary of state from Florida. There have been a couple who have served a couple days…or 20-day term, but this would be the first secretary of state ever to be confirmed from the state of Florida,” Sacher noted. 

Spectrum News Republican Analyst April Schiff agreed that both Rubio and Bondi should get approved for their positions. 

“I don’t think it will be a slam dunk, but I don’t think it will be ugly either," Schiff said. "I think they both have stellar qualifications. I think they both have a lot of support. I think they will get through the process."

Spectrum News will be following the nominations closely and have the latest as developments happen from Washington D.C. 

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.