Maine Sen. Angus King will vote for Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, but will vote against his friend, Sen. Jeff Sessions, in his quest to become the next attorney general.
King said on CNN Tuesday that Sessions would not give President Trump the kind of independent legal advice that the office demands. In a time where this is controversy over the White House’s executive orders, and the process those orders go through to get approved, there needs to be a strong voice in the room, King said.
“In my gut, because of his relationship with Mr. Trump and his history, I’m just not sure he would give that kind of advice that America desperately needs,” the independent senator said.
King said Tillerson, on the other hand, would likely be a strong voice in discussions about administration policy. The oil executive doesn’t need the job and, despite some worries over his relationship with the Russian government, King said he appears to be an independent thinker and that’s enough for his vote.
“He’ll give the president the kind of independent advice that he needs,” King said.
King said he expects Sessions to get through the confirmation process even without his vote. A vote on Sessions’ confirmation is scheduled for Tuesday, and because of a 2013 rule change imposed by Democrats, only a simple majority is needed to confirm Sessions, not a super majority.
King said it’s time to get experienced people in the room with Trump in order to curtail some of the controversy coming from the administration.
“In this particular case, where this president, he listens to a very narrow group of people and, as we learned this weekend, can make some very bad decisions, we need to get some people around him who can rein in those impulses,” he said.
