Sen. Bob Corker wants Rex Tillerson to stay on to 'help separate our country from chaos'

Much of Washington appears done with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has evidently alienated all but a few allies by fencing himself off, failing to return calls, declining to staff his department, and agreeing to massive budget cuts. Many White House aides hoped and half-expected him to resign during his press conference on Wednesday, The Daily Beast reports, and were disappointed he did not. His inaccessibility has alienated the press, and Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, suggests that he's worn out his tepid welcome with the foreign policy establishment.

But Tillerson is on good terms with Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, and reportedly is in a Cabinet-job "suicide pact" with Mattis and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. And Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters on Wednesday that he wants Tillerson to stay on, too. "I think Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Mattis, and Chief of Staff Kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos," he said. "I support them very much."

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A reporter followed up, asking Corker if the chaos those three men are protecting America from is President Trump. Corker answered sideways: "They work very well together to make sure that the policies we put forth around the world are, you know, sound and coherent. There are other people within the administration, in my belief, that don't, okay? I'm sorry."

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