[Donald Trump is] entrusting the ExxonMobil tycoon with the stewardship of US diplomacy, a move that could ignite the first showdown between the pugilistic President-elect and senators in his own party.

The nomination — which Trump sources say could come as soon as this week — would be provocative, given Tillerson’s personal relationship with President Vladimir Putin amid an uproar over CIA assessments that Russia likely intervened in the presidential election to help Trump.

The potential selection of a millionaire oil titan also offers insights into Trump’s vision of diplomacy as akin to the wheeler-dealer world of big business — and his disdain for concerns that the web of business connections surrounding him and future members of his Cabinet pose unacceptable conflicts of interest.

A Tillerson nomination would also exacerbate concerns about the level of formal foreign policy experience in Trump’s outsider administration.

On the other hand, he’s arguably better acquainted with world leaders than a potential pick for the secretary of state job who has spent decades toiling in traditional, lower-level diplomatic posts.

Any attempt to block Tillerson would ally Democrats critical of his Big Oil worldview and potential conflicts of interests with Republican Russia hawks with the stature to defy the nascent administration.

For John McCain, who branded the Russian leader a “thug and a murderer” in a CNN interview Saturday, Tillerson’s cordial ties with Putin, whom the Arizona Senator considers a US enemy, are a red flag.

“It is a matter of concern to me that he has such a close personal relationship with Vladimir Putin,” said the 2008 Republican presidential nominee on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.

“And, obviously, they have done enormous deals together, that that would color his approach to Vladimir Putin and the Russian threat.”

Tillerson, 64, was a driving force behind ExxonMobil’s partnership with Russian oil giant Rosneft and drilling projects in the Arctic, Black Sea and Siberia. In 2014, Putin awarded the ExxonMobil CEO the Order of Friendship, one of the highest honors Russia grants to foreign citizens.

McCain said that Tillerson would get a fair confirmation process if he were nominated. But he is not the only Republican senator to register alarm at the prospect of Tillerson at Foggy Bottom.

“Being a ‘friend of Vladimir’ is not an attribute I am hoping for from a #SecretaryOfState,” Marco Rubio said in a tweet signed with his initials on Sunday.

Rubio railed against Putin’s Russia during his own presidential campaign and an intervention in a Tillerson confirmation battle could help the Florida senator rehabilitate his reputation as a foreign policy heavyweight following his losing primary campaign.

Another key Republican in a Tillerson confirmation process could be South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who warned Sunday Russia was trying to “break the backs” of the world’s democracies.

Given the 52-48 GOP advantage in the Senate, it would not take many Republican defections to doom Tillerson — though the math would be complicated if Trump names a Democrat like Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota or Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to his Cabinet.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/politics/donald-trump-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/index.html