Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats responded to the ouster of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by warning that the Trump Administration is unstable.
Schumer said Trump’s decision to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is a sign of the administration’s volatility and could hurt the nation, especially when it comes to Russia.
Trump announced Tuesday Tillerson will leave the State Department, and said he wants to nominate current CIA Director and former House lawmaker Mike Pompeo.
“The instability of this administration in just about every area weakens America,” Schumer said in a statement Tuesday. “If he’s confirmed, we hope that Mr. Pompeo will turn over a new leaf and will start toughening up our policies towards Russia and Putin.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other Democrats said they believe Tillerson was fired because he criticized Russia.
Tillerson this week said he believes Russia is responsible for poisoning an ex-spy and his daughter in a Salisbury, England pub.
Tillerson’s ouster, Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday, “sets a profoundly disturbing precedent in which standing up for our allies against Russian aggression is grounds for a humiliating dismissal.
Pelosi added, “President Trump’s actions show that every official in his Administration is at the mercy of his personal whims and his worship of Putin. It is no wonder that the President has trouble attracting high-caliber people to his Administration when he undercuts and humiliates those he supposedly respects.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, R-Va., said Tillerson’s firing “is sending a signal of weakness to the world as we face continued threats from Russia, an upcoming meeting with North Korea, an ongoing crisis in Syria, and the urgent need to fill key diplomatic posts.”
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Trump’s tenure “has been defined by inconsistency, volatility, and a failure to advance U.S. values around the world.” Coons said Trump ousted TIllerson too soon and said he believed it came as a result of Tillerson’s criticism of Russia.
“While I have opposed several of Secretary Tillerson’s decisions during his tenure at the State Department, I don’t believe that President Trump ever gave him the trust, personnel, and resources he needed to be effective as the nation’s top diplomat,” Coons said. “Secretary Tillerson’s firing comes one day after he once again spoke out against Russia when the President would not.
Throughout his Administration, President Trump has not only turned away from our allies and weakened our commitments to international coalitions, but he has notably refused to address the real threats that we face from Russia.”
In a separate statement, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called on Pompeo to “stop the hollowing out of our career foreign service, which undermines our national security.”
Hoyer said Pompeo would play “a critical role to play in making clear to Russia that it cannot interfere in our elections without severe consequences.”
