U.S. Senate confirms Tillerson as secretary of state

REUTERS

 

Rex Tillerson, the former chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil, testifies. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed Rex Tillerson as President Donald Trump's secretary of state on Wednesday, filling a key spot on the Republican's national security team despite concerns about the former Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> chief executive officer's ties to Russia.

 

In the vote, 56 senators backed Tillerson, and 43 voted no. The tally was largely along party lines, with every Republican favouring Tillerson, along with four members of the Democratic caucus, Senators Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Manchin and Mark Warner as well as Angus King, an independent.

 

Democratic Senator Chris Coons did not vote.

 

Senate Democrats had tried, but failed, to delay the vote because of Trump's executive order banning immigration from seven mostly Muslim countries and temporarily halting the entry of refugees.

 

They said they wanted to ask Tillerson more questions about the issue after Trump signed the order on Friday.

 

Senators had also expressed concerns over Tillerson's ties to Russia after the executive spent years there working for the oil company. Some faulted him for failing to promise to recuse himself from matters related to Exxon Mobil businesses for his entire term as secretary of state rather than only the one year required by law.

 

Republicans said they thought Tillerson would be a strong leaders as the country's top diplomat. They also said it was important to fill key slots on Trump's national security team quickly.

 

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Alden Bentley and Jeffrey Benkoe)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-02-02

Without filing the necessary documents to complete his ethics investigation.....

Just another very well choosen person for the right work! 

President: Hotell owner - Business man - President

Secretary of state: Pumping gas - Business man - Secretary of state

This is really something to build on. No worries!

So, it appears we'll have a man with zero diplomatic experience other than overseeing the negotiating of billion-dollar oil deals, but another good Putin buddy, handling the incredibly sensitive area of foreign diplomacy, now with all of the senior level diplomatic staff at the State Department, and their combined decades of experience under both Republican and Democrat administrations, gone. What could possibly go wrong?

Don't judge a book by its cover, but his face indicates that after you shake hands with him, be sure to count your fingers.

8 hours ago, freebyrd said:

Don't judge a book by its cover, but his face indicates that after you shake hands with him, be sure to count your fingers.

Check your wallet to. Well the good ship secretary of state now has a Tiller sooo lets see if this boat will float right of to Russia no doubt. 

I have to admit Tillerson is the right person when Trump goes into Iraq and Iran for their oil.

And he'll get a pass on Israel-Palestine negotiations as Trump's son Kushner will be in charge.

 

Imaging the smirk on Putin's face. I'm sure he's been giggling non-stop since the election.