Originally reported: Wednesday, Feb. 01, 2017, 7:25 p.m.

The U.S. Senate has now confirmed Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, a controversial pick by President Donald Trump because of his ties to Russia.

The former ExxonMobil CEO was confirmed on a vote of 56 to 43, with support from all Republicans, three Democrats and one independent.

President Donald Trump congratulated Tillerson.

"Secretary Tillerson. I first want to congratulate you, Brenda, and your entire family on this incredible honor. And it is that, an incredible honor. You bring the unique skills and deep, deep insights, and I've gotten seen it firsthand, into foreign diplomacy," the president said.

Tillerson had a shaky confirmation last month after he dodged a series of questions during his hearings, specifically about Russia, and also about human rights violations in other countries.

Tillerson has a personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who awarded Tillerson the country's highest honor for his work as an oil man. 

ExxonMobil had a deal with Russia on oil drilling in the Russian arctic which was stopped when the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

It's widely believed Trump will end those sanctions. 

Sen. Bill Nelson spoke out against Tillerson's confirmation Tuesday night during debates, citing specifically his ties to Putin.

"Now isn't the time to cozy up to Russia," Nelson said. "Now is the time to stand up to Russian aggression in Crimea, in eastern Ukraine and Syria."

Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio was possibly a no vote on Tillerson. He said he had reservations before voting on Tillerson's nomination in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said he was specifically concerned about Tillerson's evasion of questions on human rights violations.

In the end, Rubio voted for Tillerson in committee and in the full Senate.

 

 

Cabinet nominee updates

Approved

The nominees for Health and Human Services Secretary and Treasury Secretary  will go before the full U.S. Senate after an unprecedented move by Republicans in the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Democrats on the committee boycotted the vote, demanding another hearing for Rep. Tom Price after reports that an Australian biomedical company gave Price a special deal on stock. He reportedly got that deal even though he worked on legislation that could affect their value while on the House Ways and Means health subcommittee.

Democrats also wants to ask Steve Mnuchin, Treasury Secretary nominee, more questions about his time with OneWest Bank after reports came out about his actions for foreclosures.

Democrats say both nominees were not completely honest in their testimonies.

The boycott delayed the vote on Mnuchin and Price because at least one Democrat has to be present.

Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called the boycott "one of the most pathetic things I've ever seen."

On Wednesday the Republican committee members decided to suspend the committee rule, allowing them to vote in a surprise meeting without Democrats present.

Ranking Democrat on the Finance Panel, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, responded:

"It's deeply troubling to me that Republicans on the Finance Committee chose to break the rules in the face of strong evidence of two nominees' serious ethical problems."

Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on a party-line 11-9 to send Sen. Jeff Sessions' nomination as U.S. Attorney General to the full Senate. 

Hearing

President Trump's Veterans' Affairs Secretary nominee David Shulkin went before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Wednesday.

The physician and top VA health official broke with Trump when he suggested more modest changes to reform the VA. He was against privatizing the agency and said wide-scale firings would not solve problems at the agency.

Shulkin did not rule out closing underused VA facilities in prepared testimony. He also said he would consider public-private partnerships to avoid building new medical centers. 

Shulkin defended Obama administration efforts to combat high rates of suicide by hiring more psychologists and psychiatrists. 

Trump wants to fire and discipline VA employees, have a commission investigate wrongdoing and create a 24-hour White House hotline to register complaints about the agency.

Blocked

Democrats in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee were not present Wednesday at the meeting to approve Scott Pruitt's nomination as EPA head.

Democrats once again used a Senate rule to boycott the vote that would send Pruitt's nomination to the full Senate. The rules say that two must be present for the vote to go forward.

Committee Chairman John Barasso, R-Wyoming, said he would do what is necessary to advance Pruitt's nomination. 

Delayed

The Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee delayed its vote to move the nomination of Mick Mulvaney for director of Office of Management and Budget forward.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, announced more time was needed to examine the results of a routine FBI investigation before a vote can happen.

Labor Secretary nominee Andrew Puzder's confirmation hearing will remain delayed as he works to divest his assets. 

A spokesman for Puzder says doing so is complicated because his fast food empire, which includes Hardee's and Carl's Jr., is a private company.

Puzder still has not turned in the required paperwork on his plan to avoid conflicts of interest.

In question

The nomination of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary is now up in the air. Two Republican Senators said they will not vote for DeVos, likely making the vote for her 50-50.

The vice president would be the tie-breaker, so Democrats are hoping to get the vote on their side.

Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said they cannot support DeVos in statements on the Senate floor Wednesday. They question DeVos' committment to public schools because of her long-held support for vouchers and charter schools.