This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

One of Donald Trump’s most important and precarious cabinet picks, former oil executive Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, was narrowly approved by a Senate committee on Monday as the last Republican holdout in the upper chamber declared his support.

Tillerson is widely expected to win confirmation from the full Senate when his confirmation goes to a vote, expected next week, after its foreign affairs committee voted 11-10 along party lines to support him.

Florida senator Marco Rubio said he still had reservations about Tillerson’s commitment to defending human rights abroad but would vote for him in view of his business credentials and the national interest, and because the former ExxonMobil chief had addressed at least some of Rubio’s concerns during a combative Senate hearing earlier this month.

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Two other sceptical Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, announced their backing on Sunday. They also voiced reservations “about his past dealings with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin”, but said they were encouraged by his stated support for US alliances.

After the committee vote on Monday evening, its chairman, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, said: “I personally have no doubt that Rex Tillerson is well-qualified. He’s managed the world’s eighth largest company by revenue with over 75,000 employees. Diplomacy has been a critical component of his positions in the past, and he has shown himself to be an exceptionally able and successful negotiator who has maintained deep relationships around the world.”

Senate Democrats, however, remained unanimously opposed to Tillerson. Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the nominee had been “repeatedly prioritising narrow business interests ahead of these core national security interests”.

With Republicans holding 52 of the 100 Senate seats, Tillerson’s confirmation looks assured, but a vote of the full chamber is not expected before next week.



Later, Mike Pompeo was approved by the Senate to lead the CIA, something that had been expected.

Pompeo joins the secretary of defense, James Mattis, and homeland security secretary John Kelly, as Trump’s first confirmed cabinet members, as the new president strives to stabilise his administration’s shaky start.

Its first four days have been overshadowed by the president’s spats with the press and the intelligence community, and continuing reported leaks about investigations into possible contacts between Trump campaign officials and Moscow during the election. The latest came on Sunday, as the Wall Street Journal reported that US counter-intelligence officials were investigating communications between the national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and Russian officials.

With the administration’s legitimacy facing unprecedented questions in the wake of Russian election hacking, a Tillerson confirmation looked set to be a significant victory.

“I believe the president is entitled to significant deference when it comes to his choices for the cabinet,” said Rubio, who had been the only Republican holdout on the committee.



“Therefore, despite my reservations, I will support Mr Tillerson’s nomination in committee and in the full Senate.”

Rubio’s statement came less than two weeks after his acute grilling of Tillerson at the latter’s confirmation hearing, in which the senator lectured Trump’s nominee on the need for “moral clarity” in the world. Rubio was dissatisfied when Tillerson declined to label Putin a “war criminal” or condemn the human rights abuses of the Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte.

But on Monday, Rubio said that, although his concerns remained, he ultimately deemed it counterproductive to hold up Tillerson’s nomination at a time of global instability.

“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,” Rubio said.

Following his vocal doubts at Tillerson’s 11 January confirmation hearing, Rubio found himself under intense pressure from Trump’s allies, including senior members of past Republican administrations, who worked vigorously behind the scenes to secure the senator’s support. Rubio and Tillerson met privately last week with Vice-President Mike Pence and Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, also in attendance, according to the Washington Post.



Mark Dubowitz, the head of the hawkish foreign policy group the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, welcomed Tillerson’s imminent confirmation.

“Tillerson’s confirmation will bring a tough, savvy, clear-eyed negotiator to the State Department who adversaries will not be able to run circles around,” Dubowitz said.