Rex Tillerson Is Confirmed
Democrat hostility toward the new secretary of state is just beginning.
On Wednesday, the Senate, by a margin of 56-43, voted to confirm Rex Tillerson as secretary of state. All 52 Republicans approved, with four Democrats breaking ranks to throw their support behind Donald Trump’s nominee. Tillerson’s ride through to confirmation was by no means smooth, as no other past presidential nominee for secretary of state has received fewer votes. But after all the commotion Democrats made, he’s through.
Tillerson’s confirmation by no means signals the end of Democrat opposition. The dustup over his global business connections and supposedly cozy relationship with Russia was merely designed to establish the narrative. In reality, Democrats are just fine with his confirmation. They’ve secured their “resistance” position with a majority of Democrats having voted against his confirmation. For Democrats and the Leftmedia, Tillerson is compromised. So as soon as the opportunity arises, one can bet the Democrats will be front and center hollowing about how they warned America against Trump’s compromised nominee.
Tillerson takes over a State Department that may be quite hostile to his leadership. A State Department that was recently headed by two failed presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. A State Department that has over the last eight years witnessed the rise of the Islamic State, Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Arab Spring, the Syrian civil war, a disastrous nuclear deal with Iran, the normalization of relations with Cuba, and the repeated snubbing of Israel. A State Department desperately in need of a course correction. Secretary Tillerson certainly has got his work cut out for him, and you can count on the Democrats giving him no quarter.