Secretary of State Marco Rubio has burned through more than $1.2 million in taxpayer-funded military flights to watch his son's college football games — while you pay the tab and get back a fraction of the cost in reimbursement.
A Washington Post investigation found Rubio has taken at least 23 trips to Gainesville, Florida, on government aircraft since taking office, 15 of them classified as personal. At least 10 of those trips were to watch the University of Florida Gators play, according to both the Post's analysis and Raw Story's report. His son Anthony is a walk-on running back who has appeared in four games over four years, racking up 14 carries for 75 yards and a single touchdown, per ESPN stats. On November 7, Rubio flew in on an Air Force C-37 to watch the Gators lose 23-7 to Oklahoma. Anthony didn't play a single snap.
Rubio is barred from commercial flight for security reasons — the same rule that covers the secretary of defense and the CIA director — but his travel habit dwarfs his predecessors'. Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken used government aircraft for personal trips only a couple of times a year, according to former officials cited by the Post. Rubio has hit Gainesville 23 times.
The cost is staggering. The Defense Department bills military jets at roughly $9,100 per hour, and on at least three trips Rubio upgraded to a Boeing C-32A — the same model used by the vice president — at $18,600 per hour, Raw Story reported. Federal rules require officials to reimburse only the price of an economy-class commercial ticket. The Post estimates Rubio's reimbursements come to somewhere between $18,000 and $33,000 — meaning taxpayers eat well over a million dollars in uncovered costs. Rubio and the State Department refused to disclose how much he actually paid back.
Rubio was unapologetic. "I have and will continue to try and make it to as many events that are important to me personally and to my family as possible," he said in a statement.
Three years ago, Rubio sang a different tune. When then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg used government aircraft, Rubio demanded an inspector general investigation, writing: "American taxpayers deserve assurances that their tax dollars are not wasted by the government's highest officials." That probe found Buttigieg followed the rules. His total government jet tab ran about $59,000 — less than one-twentieth of Rubio's estimated bill.
Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the Post the trips may not be a technical violation but warrant scrutiny. "If this travel becomes something that is undermining the integrity of your service, are you really taking care of taxpayer dollars the way that you're obligated to as a public official?" she said. Brown noted that Rubio is effectively the sole arbiter of how often and how far he travels on the public dime.
The rules let him do it. The rules also let Buttigieg do it. The rules always let the people who write them live by a different standard. The question isn't whether Rubio broke the law — it's why the law was written to let a cabinet secretary bill you seven figures for weekend football trips while paying back three percent of the cost, and why neither party has any interest in changing it.
