Trump's top diplomat wins Senate confirmation

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump's pick to helm the State Department, Rex Tillerson, narrowly won Senate approval on Wednesday.

The largely party-line 56-43 vote ends weeks of deliberations on the former ExxonMobil CEO's nomination in the Republican-held chamber.

Tillerson will be leading a department that has already voiced strong objection to Trump's policies.

A memo dissenting to the president’s ongoing immigration ban for migrations from seven Muslim-majority countries has so far gathered over 1,000 signatures in the department, including career diplomats, defying a White House warning. Those who added their names to the growing list are warning that the executive order would harm American security and ties with steadfast allies.

The Trump administration has consistently defended the order amidst continued popular and legal objections, saying it is necessary to safeguard America's security.

Tillerson's decade of experience helming one of the largest global energy firms gives him plenty of clout in international business, but whether that translates into leading the world's superpower on the global stage is yet to be seen.

While ExxonMobil CEO, Tillerson was often at odds with the Barack Obama administration while it pursued harsh economic sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine, costing Tillerson's former company billions of dollars in contracts.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Tillerson said he would not agree that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "war criminal" for his country's actions in Syria's pre-war most-populous city of Aleppo.

Russia has been the principal backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government.