Rex Tillerson

Rex Tillerson Tried To Get This Rule Killed. Now Congress Is About To Do It For Him

... Friday Cover. Rex Tillerson Tried to Get This Rule Killed. Now Congress Is About To Do It For Him. Should oil companies disclose payments to foreign governments? The GOP, and former Exxon CEO, think not. The leader of the world’s most valuable company doesn’t typically fly to Washington to fight one obscure amendment to a 2,300-page bill, especially a motherhood-and-apple-pie-style amendment designed to prevent and expose corruption abroad. But back in 2010, Exxon Mobil’s then-CEO, Rex Tillerson, was deeply worried about Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms, a bipartisan amendment that required drilling and mining companies to disclose any payments they make to foreign governments. So Tillerson and one of his lobbyists paid a half-hour visit to the amendment’s Republican co-author, then-Senator Richard Lugar, to try to get it killed. Tillerson argued that forcing U. S. oil firms to reveal corporate secrets—such as paying foreign ...

Gop Blocks Schumer Moves To Rescind Trump Travel Ban

... 2310 GMT (0710 HKT) January 30, 2017. Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. Former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, U. S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of State, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee January 11, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Story highlights. Republicans blocked a move to take up a measure on Trump's travel ban executive order. Senate Republicans blocked two moves by Democrats Monday to try to reverse President Donald Trump's controversial executive order restricting travel to the United States by Muslims and refugees. In a short exchange on the Senate floor, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer sought unanimous consent to begin debate on a bill authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, which would rescind the executive order. Schumer noted that several Republican senators had raised concerns with the order and how it was developed. "So let's repeal the order and then sit down and discuss a smart, thoughtful, effective way to counter terrorism," the ...

5 Reasons Rex Tillerson Shouldn't Be The Next Secretary Of State

... Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to back Rex Tillerson , President Trump's pick for Chief Diplomat, clearing the way for approval by the full Senate. Every nominee for the State Department's top job in the last four decades has been approved overwhelmingly by votes from both sides, yet Tillerson needed support from former presidential candidate, Marco Rubio, to carry the committee vote. In doing so, he became the first nominee since 1977 to receive more than two "no" votes from the committee. Despite his sharp questioning on Tillerson during the confirmation process, Rubio failed to stand up for his stated convictions, placing his party before country. As a billionaire former Big Oil CEO, Tillerson is ill-suited for the job. Here are 5 reasons why. No Secretary of State should have a human rights blind spot. During his confirmation hearings, Tillerson seemed extremely uninformed or unwilling to discuss major human ...

Senate Confirms Ex-exxon Mobil Ceo Rex Tillerson As Secretary Of State

... nomination to be the nation's chief diplomat. Most Senate Democrats opposed Tillerson's nomination, angering Republicans who considered the former Exxon Mobil CEO to be highly qualified for the post. Sen. Ben Cardin, the Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat, says he feared Tillerson would be a "yes man" and would not be able to prevent Trump from pursuing a misguided foreign policy that leads the country "on a march of folly.". But Republicans had the numbers to push Tillerson's nomination through. They got help from several Democrats who crossed party lines. Tillerson's ties to Russia and his stand on sanctioning Moscow have been a point of contention. Another Trump nomination was running into roadblocks with two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, announcing their opposition, in speeches on the Senate floor ...

Rex Tillerson Confirmed As Secretary Of State In Historically Contentious Vote

... his pick, Judge Neil Gorsuch. Trump announced his choice of Gorsuch, a judge for the 10 th Circuit Court of Appeals, to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on Tuesday night. "If we end up with that gridlock I would say, if you can, [Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell], go nuclear. Because that would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was caught up in the web," President Trump said. "It's up to Mitch, but I would say go for it." Supreme Court nominees normally need 60 votes for confirmation, but the "nuclear option" would allow Republicans to confirm Gorsuch with just 51; the GOP has a 52-seat majority in the Senate. Democrats threatened to block Gorsuch as retaliation for Republicans denying a hearing to Merrick Garland, whom former President Barack Obama nominated to replace Scalia last year. Rex Tillerson confirmed as secretary of state in historically contentious vote. Former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson was confirmed as secretary of state by the Senate on Wednesday, 56 to 43. "Rex Tillerson will have the most demanding and complex agenda to face a secretary of state in a very long time," ...

Is The Fate Of Rex Tillerson In Doubt

... (a departure from usual policy), no perjury charges can be brought here, but Tillerson was lying—and needlessly so. He could have said that at Exxon Mobil he’d lobbied on behalf of his stockholders but now the American people would be his stockholders and their national security interests would be his sole interest. But he didn’t. The exchange raised questions as to whether the senators could trust him. Often, after a hearing, senators submit questions for a witness to answer in writing. I’m told that, since Tillerson’s hearing, the senators on the Foreign Relations Committee have sent him nearly 1,000 questions—many times more than the usual amount—that he must answer before a vote is taken on his nomination. The committee’s membership is almost evenly divided along party lines—11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. If every Democrat were to vote against Tillerson, it would take just one Republican to block the nomination. Three of the panel’s Democrats have publicly ...

Donald Trump 'threatened To Send Us Troops' Across Border To Stop 'bad Hombres' In Call With Mexican President

... in a confrontational conversation. Rex Tillerson Credit: AP. The report emerged after Michael Flynn, Mr Trump's national security adviser, denounced Iran over a recent missile launch and alleged efforts to destabilise the Middle East, saying the US was officially putting the country "on notice". Meanwhile the Senate narrowly confirmed Rex Tillerson to serve as secretary of state, meaning the former Exxon Mobil CEO will now be at the forefront of US foreign policy. Democrats and Republicans were doing battle in the Senate on Wednesday over Mr Trump's other cabinet nominees and his pick for the US Supreme Court. Neil Gorsuch flanked by Mitch Mc Connell, the top Senate Republican (L) and Vice-president Mike Pence (R) Credit: Shawn Thew/EPA. The president nominated Neil Gorsuch, a federal judge from Colorado, for the high court on Tuesday, and Democrats immediately threatened to ...

Rex Tillerson Took A Different Tone On Climate Change When The Cameras Were Off

... director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, said that while his comments at the hearing and in writing were not “logically inconsistent” — one can believe carbon dioxide contributes to warming but isn’t the driving cause — the two testimonies have left different impressions. “Many people in the press, when they wrote about his statements at the hearing, interpreted it as, ‘Hey, this guy thinks climate change is happening,’” Leiserowitz told Buzz Feed News. “He’s got a view that seems to be quite different than his boss, and that became the storyline.”. Patrick Kovarik / AFP / Getty Images. ID: 10438105. During the hearing, Tillerson also echoed another Exxon position on the Paris Agreement, a global accord under which most of the world’s nations agreed to voluntarily curb greenhouse gas emissions through 2030 to help hold the global rise in temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Late last year, Exxon backed the agreement. During the hearing, Tillerson ...

Senate Confirms Rex Tillerson As Secretary Of State In Narrow Vote

... president without consultation with the Department of State, judging NATO to be obsolete in his Twitter and then having a relationship with Mexico where the president is canceling trips to the United States, not to mention other things said about China and other countries - it's an awesome challenge. KELEMEN: And he wonders if Rex Tillerson is up for that challenge. Supporters of Tillerson see him as an experienced businessman who has no illusions about the world. But Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, is not sure what influence the new secretary of state will have. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING). BEN CARDIN: And we cannot lose sight of the fact that he will be carrying out the foreign policy of the most dangerous, unstable, thin-skinned and ...

Trump Swears In Tillerson To Lead State Dept

... Donald Trump. The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil, on a largely party-line vote of 56-43. Three Democrats — Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Mark Warner of Virginia — and independent Angus King of Maine joined Republicans in backing the choice. The vote stands in stark contrast to previous roll calls in which nominees were backed overwhelmingly. The Senate confirmed President Barack Obama 's choice of John Kerry 94-3 and Hillary Clinton 94-2. President George W. Bush 's nominee Condoleezza Rice easily won confirmation 85-13. Colin Powell was confirmed for the job by voice vote. 3 p.m. The Republican-led Senate has confirmed Rex Tillerson as President Donald Trump's secretary of state. Senators voted 56-43 largely along party lines to approve Tillerson's nomination to be the nation's chief diplomat. Most Senate Democrats opposed Tillerson's nomination, angering Republicans who considered the former Exxon Mobil CEO to be highly qualified for the post. Sen. Ben Cardin, the Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat, says he feared ...