Secretary of State designate Rex Tillerson took another step toward confirmation when the Senate voted to end debate on his nomination Monday evening.
Tillerson cleared the procedural hurdle in a 56-43 vote. Democratic opposition to his confirmation was invigorated by anger over President Trump’s executive order suspending most travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, but four members of the Senate Democratic caucus — West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, Mark Warner of Virginia, North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp and Maine’s Angus King (a registered independent) voted with Republicans. Heitkamp and Manchin are up for re-election in 2018, in states that President Trump carried in 2016.
“I will continue to demand that each nominee issue a public statement on his or her views of President Trump‘s Muslim ban,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday in a statement reiterating his opposition to Tillerson and other nominees.
Despite the Democratic anger, there’s not much they can do to stop Tillerson or any other Trump Cabinet nominee as long as Republicans stick together. Senate Democrats changed the rules to eliminate filibusters of Cabinet nominees in 2013, which is why Tillerson was able to pass the cloture vote with fewer than 60 senators supporting him.
Current Senate rules provide for another 30 hours of post-cloture debate, setting him up for a Wednesday confirmation vote, at the latest; the vote could take place sooner if Democrats agree to expedite the process.
In the meantime, Democrats are working to delay other Cabinet nominee confirmation votes. They invoked a rarely used rule to prevent the Senate Finance Committee from advancing Treasury Secretary designate Steve Mnuchin’s nomination on Monday.
