Marco Rubio tapped as acting chair for U.S. Senate intel panel

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Monday that he's tapping Senator Marco Rubio as acting chairman of the chamber's intelligence panel.

McConnell said in a statement that Rubio, a Florida Republican, has accepted his invitation to serve as acting chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Rubio, for his part, said in a statement that he's grateful to McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, for the confidence in him.

Photo taken on March 13, 2018, shows U.S. Senator Marco Rubio speaking during a press conference in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Yang Chenglin)

The announcement came several days after Senator Richard Burr, who is under investigation for stock trades he had made ahead of a market downturn triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, said that he was stepping down as the Senate intelligence chair.

Rubio, 48, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)