USA TODAY International Edition
Senate panel approves Tillerson for State
‘ Reluctant’ Rubio makes it 11- 10 to advance nomination
Former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson won approval Monday from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to become President Trump’s secretary of State, paving the way for confirmation by the full Senate.
The committee voted 11- 10, along party lines, for Tillerson, whose nomination for the post has been controversial because of his close dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tillerson prevailed after Sen. Marco Rubio, R- Fla., announced he would reluctantly support the former oil company executive despite reservations about his ties to Russia.
Rubio told the committee his concern was that Tillerson will “pursue a foreign policy of dealmaking at the expense of human rights and democracy.”
During a sometimes tense confirmation hearing Jan. 11, Rubio called Tillerson’s answers “troubling” and “discouraging” when he refused to agree that Russia and Syria’s aggressive actions were war crimes or that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s extradjudicial killings were human rights violations.
Republicans hold a one- seat advantage on the panel, so a “no” vote would have blemished Trump’s choice to run the State Department.
Rubio’s decision to endorse Tillerson was probably made easier by the announcement Sunday that two other Tillerson skeptics — Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — would favor Tillerson. In a joint statement, both said Tillerson “can be an effective advocate for U. S. interests.”
Rubio wrote a lengthy Facebook post explaining that he would vote for Tillerson: “Given the uncertainty that exists both at home and abroad about the direction of our foreign policy, it would be against our national interests to have this confirmation unnecessarily delayed or embroiled in controversy.”
Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the panel, said he opposed Tillerson’s nomination because “the fundamental role of a secretary of State is to promote American values.” He said Tillerson would not answer questions about whether he supported sanctions or whether development assistance should be contingent on human rights.
“So many times he qualified ( his responses) that he sounded like a business person, not like a secretary of State,” Cardin said.
Cardin said Tillerson lacked the passion for human rights shown by other Trump nominees, such as South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, picked to be ambassador to the United Nations, and James Mattis, who was confirmed Fri- day as secretary of Defense.
“There was disappointment with the way Mr. Tillerson responded to some of our questions, although it may have been consistent with President Trump,” Cardin said.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D- N. J., said he respects Tillerson’s experience, but his world views don’t support a tradition of promoting U. S. values such as protecting human rights and enforcing the rule of law.
“It is not the type of moral clarity I would like a secretary of State to espouse,” Menendez said.
Menendez also said he did not think Tillerson was forthcoming in his answers about ExxonMobil’s lobbying against sanctions.
Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R- Tenn., noted that Tillerson was an engineer by training and was cautious in some of his answers because he “probably doesn’t know the person he’s about to work for very well.”
Sen. Rob Portman, R- Ohio, voted in favor of Tillerson, saying he was impressed by his commitment to support NATO allies and to protect them if they come under attack. Those comments from Tillerson were at odds with Trump, who as a candidate said he would consider allies’ contributions to their own defense before ordering U. S. troops to defend them.
Democrats had criticized Rubio for what they see as caving to Trump.
“By ignoring his serious reservations about Tillerson’s connections to Vladimir Putin, Marco Rubio is not only rolling over for Donald Trump, he’s earning the nickname Trump gave him: Little Marco,” said Zac Petkanas, a senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee.
Rubio had been pressed by a number of influential Republicans in recent weeks to back Tillerson, including former vice president Dick Cheney. If he voted against Tillerson, Rubio would be tagged as the chief antagonist against his own party’s president.
“So many times he qualified ( his responses) that he sounded like a business person, not like a secretary of State.” Sen. Ben Cardin, D- Md., who voted no