Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Tuesday that he has “serious concerns” about the prospect of Rex Tillerson serving as President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state.
“While Rex Tillerson is a respected businessman, I have serious concerns about his nomination,” Rubio said in a statement. “The next secretary of state must be someone who views the world with moral clarity, is free of potential conflicts of interest, has a clear sense of America’s interests, and will be a forceful advocate for America’s foreign policy goals to the president, within the administration, and on the world stage.”
Rubio sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will be responsible for approving Tillerson’s nomination before it goes to the rest of the Senate.
He said he looks forward to going through Tillerson’s “record and his views.”
{mosads}Rubio alluded to reports that Trump would choose Tillerson over the weekend.
“Being a ‘friend of Vladimir’ is not an attribute I am hoping for from a #SecretaryOfState – MR,” he wrote on Twitter Sunday, referencing Tillerson’s ties to Russia through his business dealings as CEO of Exxon Mobil.
Trump said early Tuesday that Tillerson is his choice to run the State Department.