Should/will Rex Tillerson be confirmed as Secretary of State?

[Snowboarder_Bo]

[It’s official now: Rex Tillerson is Mr. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State.

President-elect Donald Trump has selected Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to lead the State Department, dismissing concerns about the businessman’s close ties with Russia, two people close to Trump’s transition said Monday night.

Trump’s decision caps a lengthy process that often played out in public and exposed rifts within his transition team. It also sets Trump up for a potential fight with Congress over confirming Tillerson, who has connections with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The president-elect had moved toward choosing Tillerson after a meeting Saturday, their second discussion in a week. Trump was said to be drawn to the idea of having an international businessman serve as the nation’s top diplomat.

In a weekend interview with “Fox News Sunday,” Trump cast Tillerson’s deep relations with Moscow as a selling point. As Exxon Mobil’s head, he maintained close ties with Russia and was awarded by Putin with the Order of Friendship in 2013, an honor for a foreign citizen.

“A great advantage is he knows many of the players, and he knows them well. He does massive deals in Russia. He does massive deals for the company,” Trump said.

](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRUMP_STATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-12-23-06-46)
So, a few questions for debate here:

1. Is Mr. Tillerson’s nomination a smart, canny move by the President-elect?
2. Should and/or will Mr. Tillerson be confirmed?

[Little_Nemo]

Definitely not a smart, canny move.

I feel about Tillerson’s nomination the way I feel about Trump’s election: it’s a bad decision but there’s nothing illegal about it. As a general rule, I say a President should be allowed to have the cabinet of his choosing. So I guess Tillerson should be confirmed.

[PastTense]

** Trump’s expected choice for State in very real danger of being blocked on the Hill **

Analysis | The Daily 202: Trump’s expected choice for State in very real...

This article believes the Democrats will vote overwhelmingly against him as well as some hardline anti-Russian Republicans.

I think Tillerson is a better choice than Bolton.

[ataraxy22]

Bolton is the theoretically worst possible choice, although I think this Exxon CEO dude may have a hard time getting confirmed too.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[BobLibDem]

@Snowboarder_Bo

So, a few questions for debate here:

1. Is Mr. Tillerson’s nomination a smart, canny move by the President-elect?
2. Should and/or will Mr. Tillerson be confirmed?

1- No. I don’t believe he is capable of a smart, canny move. To have as the chief diplomat someone with zero diplomatic experience other than making business deals is laughable.

2- He should not. The incoming administration is entirely too cozy with Putin. A Facebook post I saw shows Putin with a photo of the White House in the background saying "I can see my house from Russia!’ That’s about right.

He probably will be. For too many Republicans, there can not and must not be any disagreement with any Republican on matters great and small. Democrats should vote in unison against, but I doubt we’ll get any Republicans to put country ahead of party.

[John_Mace]

1. Yes. It fits in with Trump’s real campaign slogan: MAKE TRUMP RICH AGAIN.

2. This is a tough one. He is, apparently, a pretty knowledgeable guy, but his ties with Russia are troubling. OTOH, is there going to be a better nominee coming out of Trump?

[adaher]

@Little_Nemo

Definitely not a smart, canny move.

I feel about Tillerson’s nomination the way I feel about Trump’s election: it’s a bad decision but there’s nothing illegal about it. As a general rule, I say a President should be allowed to have the cabinet of his choosing. So I guess Tillerson should be confirmed.

True, but he should be qualified. Which he is, unconventionally. He has a relationship with a lot of foreign leaders. I just worry about the direction we’re heading in regards to Russia.

[TriPolar]

I’m surprised people care that much who the SoS is. This isn’t the early 19th century when the president’s representative was sent abroad and incommunicado for weeks at a time. We have Skype now. I think Romney was an excellent choice, he looks good in a suit and the position is basically a sales rep. Tillerson could be fine in the job. All this nonsense about cabinet positions should simply focus on Trump and whether or not he’s going to get his cabinet to represent his positions. Whatever it is they do he has to take the blame or the credit.

[WillFarnaby]

Yes this is a terrible situation. Life is so much better when the US govt and Russian govt are not on good terms.

[adaher]

We’ve wanted to be on good terms with Russia ever since the Soviet Union fell, and under Yeltsin our relations were good, as well as at times under Putin. Their behavior is what has caused relations to sour. I’d love to get along with Russia. All they have to do is give Ukraine back the Crimea and be nice to their neighbors.

[BobLibDem]

@adaher

We’ve wanted to be on good terms with Russia ever since the Soviet Union fell, and under Yeltsin our relations were good, as well as at times under Putin. Their behavior is what has caused relations to sour. I’d love to get along with Russia. All they have to do is give Ukraine back the Crimea and be nice to their neighbors.

And they don’t want to do either, so they invested in putting their stooge in the White House.

[LonghornDave]

Rex Tillerson is an extraordinarily impressive person who should clearly be confirmed. Honestly, I thought we were going to be stuck with somebody like Chris Christi or Rudy Giuliani back when Trump was elected. For it to seemingly have come down to Romney and Tillerson is a shocking improvement.

There is likely not a single person in the private sector with a more political background dealing in sensitive areas around the world (China, the Middle East, Russia).

[Little_Nemo]

@TriPolar

I’m surprised people care that much who the SoS is. This isn’t the early 19th century when the president’s representative was sent abroad and incommunicado for weeks at a time. We have Skype now. I think Romney was an excellent choice, he looks good in a suit and the position is basically a sales rep. Tillerson could be fine in the job. All this nonsense about cabinet positions should simply focus on Trump and whether or not he’s going to get his cabinet to represent his positions. Whatever it is they do he has to take the blame or the credit.

That’s fine if we’re talking about Roosevelt and Hull or Nixon and Rogers. Some Presidents handle all their foreign policy personally and the SoS has a minimal role.

But Trump doesn’t appear to have the knowledge or inclination to directly handle the details of foreign affairs. He needs an expert in that position.

[running_coach]

@LonghornDave

Rex Tillerson is an extraordinarily impressive person who should clearly be confirmed. Honestly, I thought we were going to be stuck with somebody like Chris Christi or Rudy Giuliani back when Trump was elected. For it to seemingly have come down to Romney and Tillerson is a shocking improvement.

There is likely not a single person in the private sector with a more political background dealing in sensitive areas around the world (China, the Middle East, Russia).

NYTimes.

Now that President-elect Donald J. Trump has chosen Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, to be the next secretary of state, **the giant oil company stands to make some major gains as well: It has billions of dollars in deals that can go forward only if the United States lifts sanctions against Russia.
**
As head of America’s largest oil company, Mr. Tillerson has earned a friendship award from Russia and voiced skepticism about American sanctions that have halted some of Exxon Mobil’s biggest projects in the country.

[CandidGamera]

I would say that he should be rejected based on his conflicts of interest.

[John_Mace]

Those conflict of interest laws that don’t apply to the president DO apply to his Cabinet.

[Ravenman]

@WillFarnaby

Yes this is a terrible situation. Life is so much better when the US govt and Russian govt are not on good terms.

Who are the pro-American analog in the Russian government of the pro-Russian Trump officials proposed for the American government?

[John_Mace]

Honest question: How much of an issue were “business ties” for John Kerry when he was nominated for SecState. He’s not super-rich, but his wife is worth about $1B, has never disclosed her tax returns, and I don’t remember any issue at all. Was there any concern?

(Hey, who knows how much ketchup they use in Russia!!)

[BobLibDem]

@John_Mace

Honest question: How much of an issue were “business ties” for John Kerry when he was nominated for SecState. He’s not super-rich, but his wife is worth about $1B, has never disclosed her tax returns, and I don’t remember any issue at all. Was there any concern?

(Hey, who knows how much ketchup they use in Russia!!)

I don’t know. Are cabinet nominees required to release tax returns? He certainly did when he ran for president, I think anything glaring would have been brought up in his confirmation hearings. Of course, Heinz products don’t have the strategic importance that oil does.

[John_Mace]

@BobLibDem

I don’t know. Are cabinet nominees required to release tax returns? He certainly did when he ran for president, I think anything glaring would have been brought up in his confirmation hearings. Of course, Heinz products don’t have the strategic importance that oil does.

The point about not releasing tax returns was just to note that there is little, if any, public information about her investment portfolio. Did anyone care?