Politics

Tillerson Probably Has The Votes For Confirmation

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Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, will likely be confirmed by the Senate, after Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham announced their intentions to vote for him.

McCain and Graham announced they plan to vote for Tillerson Sunday, after weeks of speculation. Both senators said they’re still concerned about Tillerson’s frequent dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin as ExxonMobil’s CEO.

“The views that Mr. Tillerson has expressed, both privately and publicly during the confirmation process, give us confidence that he will be a champion for a strong and engaged role for America in the world,” they said in a joint statement.

Tillerson needs a majority of senators to vote for his confirmation, which would require three republican defectors. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee still hasn’t voted on him, and he may still suffer an embarrassing rebuke from Sen. Marco Rubio.

Rubio asked Tillerson several pointed questions throughout his hearing, and sharply criticized him for refusing to call Putin a war criminal.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee can either send a nominee to the full senate floor favorably or unfavorably. Favorable nominees receive a majority of votes within the committee. A Rubio no vote on Tillerson would mar his nomination with unfavorable status from the committee and put him sharply at odds with the new president.

The committee will hold its vote on Tillerson Monday afternoon, before it is sent to the full senate for consideration.

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