The reimbursement question is distinct from the estimated cost of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s travel. Since taking office, Rubio has flown to Gainesville aboard government aircraft at least 23 times, including 15 trips the State Department labeled purely personal. A Washington Post analysis put the government’s flight costs at more than $1.2 million, largely in connection with trips to watch his son play football for the Florida Gators; that estimate is not a figure for what Rubio personally owes.
The figures come from an analysis by The Washington Post, which estimated costs using published Defense Department hourly aircraft rates, according to Sports Business Journal. The State Department confirmed Rubio has flown to at least 10 Gators football games since taking office last year, and The Washington Post reported he attended five games this past fall.
Rubio's son Anthony is a walk-on running back for the Gators, a senior and the third of Rubio's four children, according to the Guardian. Anthony has appeared in four competitive games across four years at the University of Florida, including two in 2026, and carries a career stat line of 14 rushes for 75 yards and one touchdown, per ESPN figures cited in the seed reporting. He played no part when the Gators lost 23-7 to Oklahoma on November 7, a game Rubio attended after arriving in Gainesville aboard an Air Force C-37, per the same reporting.
A Well-Worn Flight Path to Gainesville
Rubio typically flies from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to Homestead Air Reserve Base near Miami before continuing on to Gainesville, as noted by The Guardian. He is barred from flying commercially because of security protocols, a restriction that both he and the State Department have cited in defending the trips. Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson said Rubio uses military aircraft to ensure continuity of operations, continuity of government and access to secure communications, and said Rubio will keep flying that way.
Rubio has defended making the trips, telling the Post, “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,” according to Sports Business Journal. Rubio and the State Department have not said how much he has reimbursed the government for personal travel, while defending the arrangement.
What the Reimbursement Rule Actually Requires
Federal regulation 41 CFR 301-10.264 says an employee required to use government aircraft must reimburse the government for the amount by which the full coach fare for all flights taken exceeds the full coach fare for flights that would have been taken without the personal activities, according to the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. The rule therefore does not simply assign the employee the estimated operating cost of the government aircraft. The publicly available text does not establish every exception that might apply to Rubio’s case, or how much he has paid.
What oversight can establish
The available material does not explain how agencies generally track personal flights or document reimbursements, and it does not establish an audit finding about Rubio. In a separate matter involving the Justice Department, a May 7, 2025 letter from Sen. Richard J. Durbin asked GAO to review whether policies and procedures ensure DOJ executives reimburse nonmission-related government-aircraft flights, including travel by accompanying family or friends, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. The request concerned DOJ, not Rubio’s State Department travel, and asked for a review rather than reporting its results.
Former State Department officials told the Post that Rubio’s personal travel appears to significantly outpace that of his predecessors. Antony Blinken, who served as secretary of state before Rubio, took personal trips on government aircraft only a couple of times a year, the Post reported, as relayed by Sports Business Journal.
Echoes of a Past Political Fight
The travel has also drawn comparisons with Rubio’s past criticism of government-aircraft use. As a Florida senator, he complained about then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s use of government jets for personal trips, writing that American taxpayers deserve assurances their tax dollars are not wasted by the government’s highest officials. The Transportation Department’s internal watchdog investigated Buttigieg, and an inspector general audit ultimately cleared him of wrongdoing, finding he had complied with federal rules after reviewing eight trips that cost a combined $59,000, according to MS NOW.
Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the Post that Rubio’s travel is more an optics issue than a clear violation, though she said it merits scrutiny. Brown also noted that Rubio is effectively the sole arbiter of how often and how far he travels, a point ethics watchdogs have cited in questioning the necessity of his frequent trips between Washington and Gainesville. The Guardian said it had contacted Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the State Department for comment on the findings.
