Washington
Tillerson, the former top executive at ExxonMobil, also declined to strongly denounce Russian military actions in Syria that have led to civilian deaths or to broadly condemn alleged human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. He conceded that climate change is man-made and needs to be addressed by world powers — but also that there’s very little he can do to control the potential global fallout of Trump’s tweeting.
Tillerson’s hearing was the marquee event on a busy day amid a consequential week for the incoming Trump administration as the president-elect’s top Cabinet picks begin the confirmation process. As Tillerson testified, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Trump’s choice for attorney general, was sitting for his second day of hearings with the Judiciary Committee and Elaine L. Chao, Trump’s choice for transportation secretary, testified before the Senate commerce panel.
Tillerson’s sometimes testy confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee gave the 64-year-old Texan his first chance to address concerns that ExxonMobil put profits ahead of human rights, environmental and policy concerns, and to explain his relationship with Russia.
“I understand full well the responsibilities and the seriousness” of the job, Tillerson said. “I don’t view this as a game in any way,” he said, rejecting a characterization that he might view problems and policies as transactional.
Sharp inquiries by senators in both parties signaled that Democrats and Republicans are still skeptical about whether Tillerson is suited to be the chief U.S. diplomat alongside a president with no government experience, particularly at a time of increasingly strained relations between the United States and Russia.
With his smooth baritone voice, he assured senators that he would set aside a profit-driven worldview born of 41 years as an oil executive and would recuse himself from decisions involving his former employer, the world’s largest oil company. Tillerson retired on Dec. 31 and has pledged to sell his remaining ExxonMobil stock.
But Tillerson seemed constrained and at times reluctant in answering questions about some of the most controversial positions adopted by Trump during the presidential campaign. In some cases he said he does not yet have sufficient information to comment in detail, as with the Russian presidential hacking allegations clouding Trump’s ascension to the presidency now, and in other cases he said the incoming administration has not yet settled on its views.
“In my conversations with him on the subjects we have discussed, he’s been very open and inviting of my views and respectful of those views,” Tillerson said of Trump.
Tillerson called himself a pragmatist about Russia, which he said is not a friend of the United States but can be a partner. Moscow has been emboldened in Ukraine and elsewhere by a void in strong U.S. leadership, Tillerson said, and he pledged a tough stance with both Russia and China over territorial ambitions.
He declined to label Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal.
He seemed to stun some senators by saying he had not yet discussed Russian action in Aleppo, Syria, with Trump. He frustrated others by appearing to stonewall questions about ExxonMobil lobbying against economic sanctions, especially concerning Russia, where the company does extensive business.