RUBIO ON BOARD FOR REX – AT 11:44 A.M. ET:   Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has announced he will support President Trump's nomination of Rex Tillerson for secretary of state.  Rubio thus joins Senators McCain and Graham, who announced their support yesterday.  The three Republicans had raised questions about Tillerson's relationship with Vladimir Putin.  Their hesitation threatened Tillerson's confirmation, which is now all but assured.  From ABC: 

Sen. Marco Rubio says he'll support President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state.

The Florida Republican ended nearly two weeks of "will he or won't he" drama by announcing on his Facebook page that he'll vote for Rex Tillerson to serve as the nation's top diplomat.

Rubio says his backing is not without concerns. He worries that in years to come the U.S. "will not give the defense of democracy and human rights the priority they deserve."

But he says it "would be against our national interests" for Tillerson's confirmation to be unnecessarily delayed or embroiled in controversy.

Rubio and other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are scheduled to meet Monday afternoon to cast their ballots on Tillerson, the former Exxon Mobil CEO.

The senator clashed with Tillerson at his confirmation hearing earlier this month.

COMMENT:  Rubio's endorsement was less than enthusiastic, leaving open the possibility of clashes with Tillerson and the administration down the line.  There is no love lost between Rubio and Trump, or between McCain and Trump or Graham and Trump.  Republican senators are doing Trump a favor by putting aside their concerns over Tillerson, and I have a feeling they've gotten some policy concessions in return.  We'll see.

January 23, 2017