The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Marco Rubio blasts slacker government workers — after missing his seventh of seven votes this month

October 20, 2015 at 3:41 p.m. EDT

Speaking from the Senate floor on Tuesday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) attacked government employees who didn't do their jobs.

"All we're saying in this bill is," Rubio said, "if you work at the V.A., and you aren't doing your job, they get to fire you. I think people are shocked that that [doesn't] actually exist in the entire government, since there is really no other job in the country where if you don't do your job, you don't get fired."

He continued: "In this instance, we're just limiting it to one agency. This should actually be the rule in the entire government. If you're not doing your job, you should be fired."

Rubio's job, of course, is senator. As senator, his job is to be one of the two voices the state of Florida has in the Senate. That voice is expressed in a number of ways, including in his advocacy for legislation and solving problems as he can for the state's residents. But the job also demands that Rubio exercise that voice explicitly, by voting for or against items that come before the body.

Rubio has the worst voting record in the Senate this year. We looked at this earlier this month, when Rubio defended his absences from Washington by pointing out that he had a second job -- running for president. Prior to that story, which was published on Oct. 8, Rubio had missed all five of the votes the Senate had taken in October, according to GovTrack.us. Since, he's missed the other two.

That includes a vote taken on Tuesday morning, at about 11 a.m. Rubio was one of three senators to miss a confirmation vote for Ann Donnelly to join the U.S. Eastern District bench.  (Also missing the vote was another 2016 candidate, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.)

Three hours later, Rubio appeared on the Senate floor to excoriate government employees who don't do their jobs.