The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday will vote against Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson’s nomination to be President Trump’s secretary of state.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., announced his decision on CNN Monday morning, and said he’s worried that Tillerson’s business interests will get in the way of promoting U.S. values.
“During the confirmation hearings, he raised many questions whether his business interests would compromise his ability to speak out for U.S. leadership on human rights and good governance,” Cardin said.
Cardin’s opposition comes just a day after two Republican senators who were on the fence about Tillerson’s nomination said they would approve his nomination.
Those votes of confidence removed a potential stumbling block for the Trump administration after weeks of worry that Tillerson might end up being blocked by senators like Sen. John McCain, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Marco Rubio. McCain and Graham released a joint statement on Sunday announcing their plans to vote “yes” on Tillerson’s nomination, even though they remain worried about his relationship with the Russian government.
“Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests,” the statement read.
Cardin pointed to Tillerson’s relationship with the Kremlin as one of the reasons he could not offer his support for Tillerson. He added Tillerson didn’t seem to have a firm grasp of the secretary of state’s role in the administration because he talked about military responses to diplomatic questions in his hearing.
“He’d talk more about military response than using diplomacy,” Cardin said. “Military response should always be a last resort.”
