| | | | Trump taps Tillerson for State Dept. Will he be confirmed? | | President-elect Donald Trump made clear he's intent on improving Washington's relationship with Moscow by tapping ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson -- a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin -- as his nominee for secretary of state. Tillerson, 64, has no formal foreign policy experience, but has built close relationships with many world leaders by closing massive deals across Eurasia and the Middle East on behalf of the world's largest energy company. "His tenacity, broad experience and deep understanding of geopolitics make him an excellent choice for secretary of state," Trump said in a statement.
The losers of Diplomatic Apprentice: Mitt Romney, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, former Army Gen. David Petraeus, Rudy Giuliani and former UN ambassador John Bolton -- who could end up in the No. 2 spot in Foggy Bottom.
But will the Senate confirm Tillerson? Keep an eye on the Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee. So far, Sen. Marco Rubio has weighed in most forcefully against Tillerson -- who tweeted yesterday that "being a 'friend of Vladimir' is not an attribute I am hoping for" in the next secretary of state. Sen. Rand Paul said on Fox News today he is "keeping an open mind" and he is "willing to find out what Tillerson has to say" about nation-building in the Middle East. Then there was a more positive take from Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona. "The fact that Condi Rice, James Baker and Bob Gates are recommending Tillerson carries considerable weight," he said. One Trump official told CNN there's a plan to sell Tillerson to skeptical senators and the transition team believes the more lawmakers get to know him, the more comfortable they will be.
Outside the Foreign Relations panel ... Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, isn't yet on board with Tillerson. He "is not ready to vote for Rex Tillerson," said D.J. Jordan, Lankford's communications director. Lankford has "a lot of questions about Mr. Tillerson and his ties to Russia, and his ability to be America's top diplomat." Sen. John McCain also weighed in on Tillerson's ties to Vladimir Putin, telling CNN's Jake Tapper yesterday, "This guy is a thug and a murderer and I don't see how anybody could be a friend of this old KGB agent." More from CNN's Manu Raju, Ted Barrett and Nicole Gaouette. | | "Donald Trump never laughs." -- Sen. Al Franken -- the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian -- to the New York Times' Mark Leibovich in a great profile of the Minnesota Democrat's adaption from celebrity to politician. | | | In other transition news ... | | President-elect Donald Trump taps former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to head the Department of Energy, an agency he wanted to eliminate. He also selected Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, a former US Navy SEAL commander, as his nominee for secretary of the interior. And with Trump nominating Tillerson as secretary of state, Tump guarantees that his four most influential departments will, if confirmed, be led entirely by white males -- the first time since George H.W. Bush's first cabinet was approved in 1989.
This was a really good day for Democrats: Zinke was the top prospect to challenge Montana Sen. Jon Tester in that state's 2018 race. And Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is staying in the Senate, giving Democrats a much better shot at holding his seat assuming he runs for re-election in 2018. He didn't say whether he turned down an offer from Trump or was told he was out of the running for the post. | | | President-elect Donald Trump's choice of ExxonMobil's Rex Tillerson for secretary of state was getting some blowback from Republicans. So Trump pulled off a move he's made since Day One of his campaign: He created a spectacle, welcoming rapper Kanye West to Trump Tower for a meeting. West tweeted about their conversation afterward: | | GOP moves to prevent Electoral College defections | | The Republican National Committee has built an extensive whip count operation to make sure Democratic electors don't convince 37 of their Republican colleagues to dump Donald Trump ahead of the December 19 Electoral College vote, Politico's Kyle Cheney reports.
Hillary Clinton 2020? From ABC's Rick Klein, on Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's statement supporting electors' request for an intelligence briefing on Russian hacking: "John Podesta's statement in support of a briefing for electors marks the most aggressive attempt by Clinton aides to call the election's results into question. It carries far more weight than support for recounts, in the statement's implications. As for the politics, why have the Clinton operation on record in this way unless Hillary Clinton herself wants to be in the political mix moving forward? And in the short term, is anyone happier that this story is morphed into a political one than Donald Trump, who prefers these grapes taste sour?" | | Trump's EPA pick pledges to undo Obama's actions | | In an interview with a local radio show titled "Exploring Energy," Donald Trump's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency said the new administration would undo environmental executive orders and regulations passed under President Barack Obama, CNN's KFile reports. "I believe that there's going to be significant regulatory change on Day One," Pruitt said.
And it seems that the new administration is beginning to target aides who helped with policy in Obama's administration -- with the Trump team submitting 74 questions to the Department of Energy, including two questions asking for the identities of staffers who worked on Obama administration climate policy efforts. The department responded Tuesday that it would not provide those names, Politico's Eric Wolff reports.
And what about climate change? As a result of the future of climate change research under a Trump administration, scientists are working frantically to copy reams of government data onto independent servers to save it from possible future government interference, per The Washington Post's Brady Dennis. | | | The typo that caused the WikiLeaks hack -- The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald shared this excerpt from the New York Times article that revealed how Hillary Clinton's former campaign chairman John Podesta's Gmail account was compromised by Russian cyberpowers. | | | Hillary Clinton ally David Brock is blasting her Brooklyn operation and "animals" in the press. ... Celebrity chef Jose Andres has a proposition for President-elect Donald Trump: end their legal battle stemming from Trump's inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants and instead donate money to a veterans organization. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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