Trump’s nominee for State clears procedural hurdle in Senate
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nomination of Rex Tillerson for secretary of state cleared a Senate hurdle Monday, setting the stage for an extended debate over the president’s order banning travel from specific Muslim-majority countries and U.S. policy toward Russia.
Senators voted 56-43 to put Tillerson’s bid to be the nation’s chief diplomat on track for confirmation later this week. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., pressed unsuccessfully for a delay in the vote until Tillerson answered for Trump’s travel ban order.
Trump’s order bars individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days. Trump has repeatedly said the move is aimed at protecting the nation against extremists looking to attack Americans and American interests. But recent domestic acts of deadly extremist violence have been carried out either by U.S. citizens or by individuals whose families weren’t from the nations singled out.
Although many Democrats — including Schumer — will oppose Tillerson, they’ll need at least several Republicans to join them to derail the nomination. That appeared unlikely, even after two of the Senate’s leading Republican voices on national security voiced concern over Trump’s desire for a better relationship with Moscow.