Sen. Marco Rubio is set to miss a classified briefing on the situation in North Korea for a presidential campaign fundraiser Monday night, the latest high-profile Senate business he will skip amid growing criticism.
The Senate Foreign Relations is holding a closed-door hearing in the Capitol on Monday evening, where senators will be briefed by officials from the State Department, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Department of Defense.
Rubio is a member of the committee — a fact he has often touted on the presidential campaign trail as evidence of his foreign policy bona fides.
The Florida Republican, however, is scheduled to be at a fundraiser in his home state Monday evening, meaning he will miss the briefing.
It’s just the latest incident of Rubio missing Senate obligations, which his opponents have used against him in the race. Rubio has the worst voting record this year of any of the senators running for president, and he missed a classified briefing on the Paris terrorist attacks for campaign events.
Rubio has made his foreign policy experience part of his campaign pitch — saying none of his opponents have more experience with the issue.
He also was the first to put out a statement of dismay when North Korea claimed to have detonated a hydrogen bomb in a test last week, saying he had been “warning” about the threat and criticizing President Barack Obama for not seeing it.
When Rubio missed the Paris hearing, the senator’s spokesman said Rubio was attending better briefings as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he has access to intelligence not open to other members of the Senate.
Rubio has also dismissed the attacks on his voting record, saying he shows up for the votes that matter and that some tradeoffs will happen when a senator runs for president. Rubio is not running for reelection as a senator.
The Intelligence Committee does have a regular classified briefing on the schedule Tuesday, when Rubio is scheduled to be back in Washington for the State of the Union address.
Rubio’s campaign and Senate office did not respond to requests for comment.
