Former Exxon Mobil executive Rex Tillerson has spent his entire career in the oil and gas industry and has not one day of experience in international diplomacy to his name, so of course President Bannon President Trump decided that Tillerson would be the most logical person to helm the new administration's Department of State. Sure enough, despite Tillerson's total lack of qualifications and his company's extremely lucrative financial investments in Russia—kind of a hot-button issue these days!—the Senate confirmed Tillerson to his post on Wednesday by a vote of 56-43.

While the upper chamber was busy elevating a man to whom Putin personally awarded Russia's Order of Friendship to be the new driving force behind American diplomatic policy, hey, what was the House up to?

This so-called "extraction rule," which was passed as a bipartisan amendment to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, requires oil and gas companies that are listed on American stock exchanges to disclose any payments they make to the governments in foreign countries in which they operate. It's a pretty straightforward anti-bribery measure designed to rein in an industry particularly susceptible to corruption. And Exxon, reports Bloomberg News, was one of the major players in the successful lobbying effort to get the House to roll it back. Imagine that.

In fairness, Tillerson's confirmation triggers a cash-out agreement, required by federal ethics laws, that nets him a $180 million severance package. He has also agreed to sell off an additional $54 million in Exxon stock that he already owns, and for what it's worth, Exxon's stock actually fell about a point on Wednesday. That said, it's hard to imagine that after forty years with Exxon, Tillerson won't be even the least bit tempted to help out his old pals next time he sits down with his favorite autocrat to discuss drilling rights.

President Trump came into office promising a corporate-friendly regime that understood how to get business deals done, and both of Wednesday's moves seem squarely in line with this goal. That said, it's pretty gutsy to install the former CEO of America's largest oil company as chief diplomat on the same day that the legislature relieves that oil company of the obligation to disclose payments it makes to the foreign governments with whom that former CEO will be dealing. This administration seems determined to operate as a shameless kleptocracy, but this is just rubbing our noses in it.

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