Trump is sending this Miami-Dade commissioner to Panama. What’s next for his seat?

A Miami-Dade commissioner on Tuesday cruised through his confirmation hearing to be President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Panama, clearing one of the last big hurdles to the real battle: filling his seat at County Hall.

Commissioner Kevin Cabrera had almost no contentious moments in his confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate — questioning he shared with two other Trump nominees for State Department posts. Members of the Foreign Relations Committee focused most of their questioning on Mike Huckabee, the president’s pick to be ambassador to Israel.

That left Cabrera, 34, with time to compliment Panama for its help fighting cocaine smuggling, praise Trump for his focus on China’s influence in the Central American country and pepper in some details about his local government experience.

Under questioning by the committee’s chair, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Cabrera shared concerns that Chinese crane companies are pursuing deals in Panama to boost their home government’s intelligence capabilities in the region.

“As a county commissioner, we have oversight over the port and the airport,” said Cabrera, a former lobbyist who won his first elected office in 2022 with the endorsement of Trump. “And I’ll tell you, we face similar questions when we put out to bid cranes at our ports as to what security issues might come with them.”

Seated nearby were fellow commissioners who are now set to play a key role in deciding who will represent a portion of the Miami suburbs once Cabrera departs for Panama City after what’s expected to be a perfunctory vote by the U.S. Senate. Cameras showed Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, a Democrat, in the hearing audience, and the commission’s Republican chair, Anthony Rodriguez, sat in the front row by Cabrera’s mother, Gisele Maria Cabrera.

In his opening remarks, Cabrera, who was Trump’s Florida 2020 reelection campaign director, cited the support of multiple Miami-Dade Democrats, including Commissioner Kionne McGhee, who was also in the audience.

Once Cabrera resigns, the remaining commissioners on the 13-seat board must vote on whether to hold a special election for a replacement to represent the county’s District 6 until the end of his term in November 2026.

If the remaining commissioners vote against letting voters pick Cabrera’s replacement, then the board must appoint his successor.

As Cabrera was testifying at the 10 a.m. hearing, competition for his County Commission seat became less heated when a top contender took himself out of the running.

State Sen. Bryan Avila, a Republican from Miami Springs, had issued a statement shortly after Trump’s election saying he was open to replacing Cabrera on the County Commission if Cabrera left for the new administration.

But on Tuesday, Avila told the Miami Herald he was no longer interested in the job.

“I believe I can do more to reduce the financial burden and improve the quality of life for our residents in the Florida Senate,” he said.

That’s a positive development for the candidate Cabrera is privately pushing as his replacement: West Miami City Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis. Considered the top rival to Avila for a potential appointment, Orbis also has the support of Rodriguez, the commission chair, multiple sources said.

Milian Orbis, a first-term city commissioner, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. But if appointed, she would bring county experience to the post. Milian Orbis has held multiple posts where she worked on commission legislation, including for Cabrera’s term-limited predecessor, Rebeca Sosa. Milian Orbis holds a county job now, as director of the county’s Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board.

Her husband, Manuel Orbis, serves as Cabrera’s chief of staff.

Milian Orbis may face competition from another West Miami politician. The city’s mayor, Eric Diaz-Padron, is also mentioned as a potential Cabrera successor. He also was not available for comment on Tuesday.

For now, it’s not clear when Cabrera will leave the commission. The Foreign Relations Committee needs to forward his nomination to the full Senate for a vote. Both bodies are controlled by Republicans, so the nomination is expected to be approved.

At the hearing, Cabrera faced one accusatory question from a Democratic senator. Virginia’s Tim Kaine asked Cabrera about a 2018 incident before he was running for office, when Cabrera joined other Republicans in pounding on a Coral Gables office with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi inside. Members of the Proud Boys, a far-right organization that later helped in the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were also there.

Kaine pressed Cabrera to denounce the Proud Boys.

“I condemn them and any other group that espouses hate around the world,” Cabrera said, repeating a stance he made during the 2022 commission election.

The committee’s senior Democrat, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, referenced Trump’s occasional threats to take back the Panama Canal, which the United States fully transferred to Panama in 1999.

“Do you commit to respecting the sovereignty of Panama and advising the president to do the same?” Shaheen asked.

“He said all the options are on the table in regards to Chinese influence in Panama,” Cabrera replied. “Part of all of the options includes diplomacy.”

“It’s hard for me to understand what the president means when he talks about reclaiming the Panama Canal,” Shaheen replied. “Are we talking about sending boots on the ground, the military, into Panama to take back the canal? Are we talking about buying it?”

Cabrera declined to rule anything out for the Trump administration.

“President Trump is our commander in chief,” he said. “He has said all options are on the table.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 5:02 PM.