Image source, Getty Images

Sticking with the Bondi hearing, after a few friendly questions from Republicans, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal changes the tone.

He says he has been "deeply troubled" by some of Bondi's responses, and expresses alarm that she did not directly answer when asked if Trump lost the 2020 election.

He says Bondi is saying some of the "right things" because "that's what you have to say to be here". But the US attorney general needs to be able to say no to the president and "speak truth to power", he says.

Blumenthal asks if Bondi can avoid the fate of Trump's previous attorney generals who were fired over disagreements.

"Can you say no to the president of the United States when he asks you to do something unethical or illegal?" he asks.

Bondi says she will "speak the truth", and is not saying anything purely to get confirmation. Blumenthal moves the questioning onto Kash Patel's "enemies list" before Bondi can answer his previous point directly. She repeats that she is not familiar with Patel's comments.

Image source, Getty Images

Let's return once again to the confirmation hearing of Pam Bondi, Trump's pick for attorney general.

The next questions for Bondi come from Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who focuses on Trump's refusal to accept the result of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.

He asks if Bondi will say, under oath, that Trump lost the presidential race in 2020. She says Biden is the president, Trump left office, and was "overwhelmingly elected" in 2024.

Does Bondi have any doubts that Biden won the majority of votes in 2020, Durbin asks. "I accept the results," she says. But she adds she saw "many things" on the ground in Pennsylvania during the 2020 election count.

Durbin pushes her for a yes or no. He says the length of her answer suggests she was not prepared to say yes. He asks if Bondi has heard the recording of Trump calling the Georgia Secretary of State to "find 11,780 votes". She says she hasn't.

Rubio is taking a tough line on China - a position he is well known for.

He says China is the most "potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted".

He says the US has treated China as a developing nation and allowed it to "cheat" on trade and commerce and conduct "grotesque human rights violations".

"We've allowed them to get away with things," he says, adding much of what the US needs to do to address the "dangerous imbalance" in some areas can be done within the US by securing its critical supply chains.

"If we stay on the road we're on right now, in less than 10 years, virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether china will allow us to have it or not", he says.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us, we're covering some of the confirmation hearings for Donald Trump's prospective cabinet.

We're focusing currently on Marco Rubio, the president-elect's pick for secretary of state (the top US diplomat), who's been discussing his position on the Nato military alliance and the war in Ukraine.

He calls Nato "a very important alliance", but emphasises that there must be strong and capable partners who do not fall back on it as an excuse to spend less in their own countries.

On Ukraine, Rubio echoes a previous statement from Trump, saying he "wants the killing to stop".

"I think it should be the official position of the US that this war should be brought to an end," he says.

Rubio says he hopes it can begin with some type of ceasefire deal, without detailing how this might be achieved.

For context: Trump has promised to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine soon after he takes office on 20 January and has expressed scepticism about US military and financial support for Kyiv.

Over in the Rubio hearing, the nominee for secretary of state is criticising the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

• You can read about the charges here

Republican Chairman Risch brings up the topic, saying there are "real problems" at the ICC. He says it's intended to focus on countries that do not have their own robust accountability mechanisms, not for countries like Israel and the US that "solve their own problems".

Rubio says the ICC has done "tremendous damage" to its credibility, mentioning the chief prosecutor, Karim Khan by name, saying his prosecution is "flawed".

He says he does not know how can any country can coexist next to a "group of savages like Hamas".

And Rubio repeats that if the ICC does not drop the warrant it will find its credibility badly damaged.

He says it sets a dangerous precedent, saying he believes this is a test run by the court for applying its jurisdiction to US service members and leaders in future.

Image source, Getty Images

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat, is questioning Bondi on "enemies list". That's a phrase used by Kash Patel, Trump's appointee to run the FBI.

Patel has received a lot of pushback, particularly from Democrats, for comments about the "enemies list" he's going to go after in the Trump administration, if confirmed.

Whitehouse asks if Bondi has plans for the same at the Justice Department. Bondi says she hasn't heard Patel's comments about an "enemies list", but affirms that "there will never be an enemies list" in the department.

She's made it clear a handful of times now what she has and hasn't heard prior to this hearing. Bondi said she didn't hear Patel's "enemies list" remark and earlier in the hearing said she hadn't heard the recording of the phone call between Donald Trump and then Georgia Secretary of State in 2021, where the president-elect asked a government official to "find votes".

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

The ranking member of the committee, Democrat Dick Durbin, is asking Bondi about the 6 January riot on the US Capitol in 2021.

He's asked Bondi - who is trying to be America's top law enforcement officer - if she would support Trump pardoning convicted rioters from the 6 January incident.

"I will advise on a case by case basis, just as I did my entire career as a prosecutor," Bondi said.

Durbin also asks her about the violence against law enforcement officers during that riot - where officers were injured.

"I condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer in this country," she says.

"If confirmed, I will do everything in my power - and it will be my great responsibility - to make America safe again," Bondi says.

Bondi adds that the justice department needs to "fix the bureau of prisons", which she says has suffered from years of "mismanagement, low funding and lack of morale".

Finally, Bondi says she will fight "every day" to restore confidence in the department and end it "partisanship" and "weaponisation".

"America will have one tier of justice for all," she says to close her opening remarks.

Image source, Reuters

It's a busy day on Capitol Hill. Rubio's hearing is now well under way, with questions at the moment focusing on Ukraine. We'll get to his responses in a bit.

For now, let's head over briefly to another hearing - that of Pam Bondi, Donald Trump's choice for attorney general.

"All I wanted to do was be a prosecutor," she says as she begins her opening statement.

She adds that during her career as Florida's attorney general she fought to eliminate human trafficking, provided critical resources including safe houses. "On the civil side, we worked to protect consumers," she says, including taking action on off-label prescription marketing.

If confirmed as the US attorney general, Bondi says her "overriding objective" will be to "return the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals".

Rubio persists despite the interruptions, describing the current global status around the world, pointing to dictators creating instability that aligns with radical terror groups and highlighting other global threats.

"All this has led to a moment in which we must now confront the single greatest risk of geopolitical instability and of generational global crisis in the lifetime of anyone alive and in this room today," he says.

Rubio says he will uphold the mandate from voters that Trump received when he will return to office: establish a strong America, engaged in the world, but "guided by a clear objective to promote peace abroad and security and prosperity here at home".

Tom Bateman
State department correspondent, reporting from Capitol Hill

Within a few minutes of Rubio speaking we’ve had three protesters heckling the hearing.

The first stood up and started shouting. It was hard to make out what he was trying to shout but he called Rubio “little Marco” - a snub that was used by Donald Trump for Rubio during the 2016 Republican presidential nomination campaign.

He was bundled out of the room by security officers.

The second heckled in Spanish, mentioning Nicaragua and was also taken outside. Rubio responded, saying “I get bilingual protests”, to laughter from the committee members.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, is known for his hawkish positions on some Latin American countries.

A few moments later a third person stood up and began shouting "healthcare is a human right, education is a human right,” before shouting about US sanctions.

Rubio begins by saying the nomination is an honour and extraordinary responsibility, and he speaks about how his parents arrived from Cuba with nothing but the hope for a better life.

He talks about the need to promote peace, and the global order that emerged after World War Two.

But he's then cut off by shouting in the room, and the protester is dragged out by Capitol Police.

Top Democrat on the committee, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen, has just stressed the importance of confirming national security appointments quickly.

"I believe it's in our national security interest to have our embassies fully staffed and to confirm career ambassadors" she says.

Shaheen tells Rubio that she believes he has the skills and is well qualified to serve as secretary of state.

The Democrat listed several key areas she hopes Rubio will speak to: support for Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, Syria and empowering women on the global stage.

Image source, Getty Images

More now from chairman James Risch - he's overseeing the confirmation hearing of Trump's pick for top US diplomat, Marco Rubio.

He says the outgoing Democratic administration has made "ill-informed decisions" that have empowered the US's adversaries.

He mentions the withdrawal from Afghanistan, what he describes as failure to deter Russia, and "constant concessions" to China, along with other examples.

He also talks about the need to support Israel and ramp up pressure on Iran, and says Rubio is the right man to help Trump end the war in Ukraine.

The department needs to refocus on the core mission of effective diplomacy rather than advance "progressive ideology", he says, criticising diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements.

He ends by expressing his confidence in Rubio as the "right person" to address such challenges.

Tom Bateman
State department correspondent, reporting from Capitol Hill

The Rubio hearing is under way with a stern warning from Republican Chairman James Risch to those in the public seats not to disrupt the hearing.

“I am significantly less tolerant than my predecessors regarding demonstrations,” he says, adding that anyone behind any kind of disruption would be removed and banned from returning for a year.

Florida Senator Rick Scott, a Republican, is introducing Rubio - an "exceptional" nominee, he says.

"He is the perfect person to carry out president-elect Trump's policies and to protect America's national security and to bring peace and civility back to the western hemisphere," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

There's more than one confirmation hearing taking place today, and another we have our eye on.

Marco Rubio's grilling for nomination for the role of secretary of state is just getting under way.

He's due to make a statement to and take questions from the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, which has a Republican majority but members from both parties.

We'll be bringing you the key lines and analysis as it unfolds.

Tom Bateman
State Department correspondent, reporting from Capitol Hill

Over now to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Rubio confirmation hearing is yet to begin but around a dozen activists from the anti-war activist group Code Pink are here in the public seats of the committee room.

They’ve just stood up, raising hands covered in red paint.

One said "we want peace in Greenland”, before a security officer asked them to sit down. We’re still awaiting Rubio and the committee members.

We're now hearing from the top Democrat on the committee, ranking member Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Durbin defined the role of an attorney general, stressing that this position has a real impact on America's every day life.

"It is critical that any nominee for this position be committed first and foremost to the Constitution and the American people, not any president or political agenda," he says.

Durbin outlines several questions he has for Bondi, including whether she would be willing to tell President-elect Trump "no" if he asks her to do something illegal or unconstitutional.

He then listed several concerns with Bondi serving as attorney general - citing her past role as one of Trump's personal lawyers - and whether she will focus on wealthy special interests over the American people after failing to disclose lobbying forms.

Bondi's hearing starts with a statement from its Republican chairman, Senator Chuck Grassley.

He said her qualifications speak for themselves and says a "change is desperately needed" in the department.

He says the department is "infected with political decision-making" and says it has been weaponised under the Democrats, particularly against Trump, accusing it of "Orwellian conduct" and "flagrant abuses of power".