U.S. lawmakers to probe Tillerson on
Russia, diplomacy budget cuts
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[June 13, 2017]
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers will
grill Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about President Donald Trump's
unpopular budget, conflicting messages about foreign affairs and links
between the administration and Russia, including his own ties, at
congressional hearings starting on Tuesday.
The four hearings this week are a rare chance for members of the Senate
and House of Representatives to question Tillerson, who has not
testified publicly on Capitol Hill since his acrimonious confirmation
hearing in January.
That hearing was dominated by Russia, as both Republicans and Democrats
worried that the former Exxon Mobil executive, who had deep ties with
Moscow, would be too soft on a country often at odds with the United
States.
Forty-three members of the Democratic caucus voted against Tillerson's
confirmation. It was the biggest "no" vote for a State nominee in
decades.
Several senators planned to question Tillerson even more closely about
his view of relations with Moscow. The Senate could vote on new
sanctions on Russia as soon as this week.
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"I haven't heard much from Mr. Tillerson, and what I've heard from him
hasn't satisfied my concerns," Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters.
Tillerson testifies before Foreign Relations and a Senate Appropriations
subcommittee on Tuesday, then before House Foreign Affairs and
appropriations panels on Wednesday.
Lawmakers want to know where the administration stands after Trump
seemed to side with Saudi Arabia and its allies in a dispute with Qatar,
contradicting Tillerson, who sought to ease differences between the U.S.
partners.
"The entire world has no idea where we stand with respect to the dispute
between the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and Qatar," said Democratic
Senator Chris Murphy, a foreign relations committee member.
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![](../images/061317pics/news_t33.jpg)
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stands at a press conference at the
Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) at
Government House in Sydney, Australia, June 5, 2017. REUTERS/Jason
Reed
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Lawmakers also promised close questioning about Trump's budget
proposal, which features sharp cuts in spending on diplomacy and
foreign aid, and big increases in military spending, a proposal
several members of Congress dismissed as "dead on arrival."
Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the subcommittee
that oversees the State Department budget, said he would argue
against that proposal when Tillerson testifies to his panel on
Tuesday afternoon.
"I'm going to make an argument that soft power is very important in
winning the war against terrorism, it's important for our national
security. When you look at the hard/soft power mix of this budget,
it's way off kilter," Graham told reporters.
Separately, 16 retired four-star generals and other ex-military
officers said they would submit joint testimony to the Senate on
Wednesday about the importance of foreign aid to national security.
(Additional reporting by Amanda Becker; editing by Yara Bayoumy and
Mary Milliken)
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