Congress’ OK for Exxon CEO not a given

ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson has emerged as the front runner for Secretary of State in the upcoming administration. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday heaped praise on Tillerson, who will reach Exxon’s mandatory retirement age of 65 next year.

“He’s more than a business executive,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News, calling Tillerson a “world-class player.” Congress seems less convinced, with senators from both sides of the isle expressing reservations over the Exxon executive’s relations with Russia.

“We want to make sure that the secretary of state is a person who represents America,” Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, member of the Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN on Sunday. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, serving on the same panel, that evening tweeted that Tillerson was a “friend of Vladimir [Putin],” adding that this was “not an attribute” he was hoping for.

Trump, by contrast, said that Tillerson knowing “many of the players” in Russia was “a great advantage,” adding that the CEO had done “massive deals in Russia.” ExxonMobil has been active in Russia for more than 20 years, holding stakes in 10 joint ventures with Rosneft. It also operates the Sakhalin-1 project and in 2014 drilled the first Arctic exploration well.

Having known Putin for more than two decades, Tillerson in 2011 received Russia’s Order of Friendship decoration.