President Trump Kicks Off First Week As Commander In Chief
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Monday was a busy day for President Donald Trump as he began his first work week leading the free world.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to approve Rex Tillerson's nomination to be Secretary of State.
The panel voted along party lines, 11-10, to recommend Rex Tillerson's nomination to the full Senate, where the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil is almost certain to be confirmed by the Republican-led chamber. But Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the panel's top Democrat, opposed Tillerson. Cardin says Tillerson's responses to questions about sanctions against Russia and other important global issues sounded more like answers a corporate executive would give instead of a prospective secretary of state.
With the Senate still voting Monday night, Rep. Mike Pompeo had secured enough votes to become the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
CBS News: Rex Tillerson's Secretary Of State Nomination Clears Key Committee Vote
In the meantime, the president has been busy issuing executive orders, putting a freeze on government hiring and acting on trade. He struck a blow to the Obama Administration's signature trade deal, fulfilling a campaign promise to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
"It's a great thing for the American worker what we just did," the president said Monday.
Trump also met with business leaders Monday and warned that companies who move jobs out of the US would face what he called a substantial border tax.
"We want to start making our products again," he said. "We don't want to bring them in. We want to make them here."
Meanwhile, the new White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer faced reporters for the first time since accusing them of distorting the size of the crowd at Friday's inauguration, where he insisted that it was the most watched ceremony in history if you add television and online viewers.
"I don't think there's any question it was the largest watched inauguration ever," he said Saturday.
Spicer was asked Monday why the White House reacted so aggressively to news reports over the differences between crowds at the Obama and Trump inaugurations.
"It's not about one picture, it's about a constant theme," he said. "It's about sitting here every time and being told no."
"The default narrative is always negative, and it's demoralizing," he continued.
When asked about Trump's pledge to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Spicer said they were at the very beginning stages of discussing the subject.
The president is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle Monday evening.
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