New passport system will make taking at-home photos easier

Rubio said the State Department is developing a more streamlined system that would allow Americans to more easily take and upload passport photos using their phones or computers.

Americans already can upload passport photos taken from their phones and computers; however, they must meet the Department of State's strict requirements. Rubio said the new system will use real-time, built-in facial recognition technology to make the process even quicker.

"You should be able to take that picture on that device as opposed to going somewhere. Now, the CVS people, of course, hate this, and the Walgreens and all those other places," Rubio said. "But you’ll be able to take your picture from that device and be able to have it in real time, through our security system, verify the facial ID."

In addition to easing the process of taking and submitting passport photos from home, Rubio outlined plans to allow passport applicants to complete almost the entire process online.

“Now, beyond that, I would say that we are also looking at some technological changes, which we’ll be more fully able to announce over the coming months, where it’s going to be a lot easier to get a passport in terms of the dynamics of it. You’ll actually be able to go online,” he said.

Rubio’s comments came during a reception launching a commemorative passport marking the nation’s 250th anniversary. Only 25,000 of the limited-edition passports are being released starting July 6, according to the State Department.

Controversy around new passports

The new commemorative passports were shadowed by controversy after President Donald Trump unveiled a rendering of them.

The new passport Trump shared featured an image of him standing over the Resolute Desk with the text of the original Declaration of Independence in the background and his signature at the bottom of one of the pages. Meanwhile, the other page shows the "The Declaration of Independence" painting by John Trumbull.

"The U.S.A.’s New Passport, which says, 'Welcome, but be good!'" Trump wrote alongside the designs in a June 26 social media post.

The new design drew pushback from Democrats in Washington, with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine sending a letter to Rubio saying that featuring Trump’s face on the document would turn “a unifying national milestone into a vehicle for personal promotion.”

“To our knowledge, no country places the portrait of a sitting leader in its passport," Kaine said. "Even the most authoritarian and autocratic governments have avoided equating national identity to the sitting president in such a way."