Senate Confirms Rex Tillerson As Secretuary Of State

The Senate has confirmed Rex Tillerson as secretary of state in a narrow vote that was among the most contentious for that role in recent history. Tillerson surpassed the 51 votes needed, enough for a simple majority to approve his nomination.

The former Exxon CEO Tillerson will take over his post as the country"s top diplomat as lawmakers remain skeptical about President Trump"s foreign policy, including his stance toward Russia and a recent executive order that temporarily banned refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.  Bob Corker specifically pointed to Russia as one area where he expects Tillerson to hone in on. 

"I would say the place that, if I were him, that I would want to be focused is my strategy on the Russia issue," he told reporters. "It"s one where you know the president seems fairly engaged and I think as secretary of State he probably wants to make sure that he"s developed his thinking on how to push back on Putin."  He added that the administration also needs to "get on with" naming Tillerson"s deputies.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also noted his belief that the secretary of a State "is the most important cabinet position that the president has to nominate" as explanation for why he is supporting Tillerson despite concerns. "There is so much uncertainty and debate about our role in the world these days," he said. "A lot of our allies have questions. Our adversaries are obviously watching very closely."

Previously, Democrats launched a failed effort to delay Tillerson"s nomination until after he had time to weigh in on the executive order from Trump banning individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries.  As The Hill reports, Chuck Schumer moved on Monday to delay a procedural vote, but was blocked by Sen. Tom Cotton. Afterward Democrats tried to shift republicans" votes away from a vote for Tillerson. They noted that dozens of GOP lawmakers had raised concerns about Trump"s executive order and that Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil CEO, had not backed new sanctions targeting Moscow.

"This is all an advertisement for a very simple idea — that this is probably the absolute worst time to have the first American President with no government experience and no diplomatic experience pick the first Secretary of State with no government experience and no diplomatic experience," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.  Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, added: “We need, as the next Secretary of State, a person who is going to be a leader in saying: We are going to use every one of our diplomatic tools to isolate Russia if they continue this activity of interfering with our elections."

With Tillerson"s official nomination he now faces a full plate including escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, a proxy war in Syria, a boisterous North Korea, a Taiwan and South China Sea diplomatic snafu and much more.

“Rex Tillerson will have the most demanding and complex agenda to face a secretary of state in a very long time,” said R. Nicholas Burns, a Harvard professor and career foreign service officer.

Another crucial question will be how much influence Tillerson has on Trump. All cabinet secretaries must compete for power with White House aides who have long personal relationships with and frequent access to the president. But Mr. Trump’s reliance on a close circle of advisers to write and vet executive orders while keeping departments that must implement them largely in the dark is without precedent.

Trump invited Tillerson for a private lunch at the White House on Wednesday, the first time Mr. Tillerson has appeared on the president’s official schedule.