After weeks of consideration, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) voted against President Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.
"I do not make this decision lightly," Coons said in a statement.
Even without Coons’ support, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had enough votes to approve Tillerson’s nomination strictly along party lines Monday. The vote was 11-10.
Delaware’s junior senator questioned Tillerson both one-on-one and in a committee hearing over the past couple weeks.
Coons says he likes the former ExxonMobil chief executive’s understanding of the threat posed by Putin’s Russia and his support for NATO.
But Coons says where they differ outweighed those points.
"I believe that climate change is a pressing national security threat. I believe that advocating for human rights, a free press, and democracy around the world advances our own security and economic interests here at home," said Coons in his statement.
But he adds he hopes Tillerson can have a positive influence on President Trump.
"I also believe that American leadership on the world stage is not as simple as President Trump’s slogan, ‘America First,’" Coons said in his statement.
"If confirmed, it is my sincere hope that Mr. Tillerson will challenge President Trump to rethink his isolationist, dark view of the world and pursue a foreign policy that upholds American values."
Tillerson's appointment now goes to the full Senate for confirmation.
