Feb. 1 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to confirm one of President Donald Trump‘s top Cabinet officials — Rex W. Tillerson for secretary of state.
The upper chamber voted 56-43 to approve the former ExxonMobil chief executive during a session Wednesday afternoon as the government’s 69th secretary of state.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the nomination last week, by a vote of 11-10 along party lines.
Tillerson’s candidacy faced potential rejection in committee after terse questioning from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and potential opposition from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Rejection from either senator could have torpedoed his nomination, but both ultimately voted in favor of his appointment.
Democrats have criticized Tillerson’s nomination due to his past dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other potential conflicts from his decades-long career with the oil company. Republicans have lauded him as a savvy and knowledgeable businessman with a good eye for diplomacy.
In his testimony to the Senate committee earlier this month, Tillerson called Russia an “unfriendly adversary” which poses a “danger” as it attempts to advance its own interests in eastern Europe.
Tillerson, 64, takes over at the U.S. Department of State for John F. Kerry, former President Barack Obama‘s secretary of state for four years after he succeeded Hillary Clinton.
