{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/press-releases/merkley-on-tillerson-trump-told-us-he-was-going-to-drain-the-swamp_--he-didnt-tell-us-he-would-drain-it-directly-into-his-own-cabinet", "Merkley on Tillerson: “Trump Told Us He Was Going to Drain the Swamp -- He Didn't Tell Us He Would Drain It Directly Into His Own Cabinet”", "2016-12-13", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Jeff Merkley", "M001176", "www.merkley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Merkley on Tillerson: \u201cTrump Told Us He Was Going to Drain the Swamp -- He Didn't Tell Us He Would Drain It Directly Into His Own Cabinet\u201d \n\t\n\t\n\tTuesday, December 13, 2016\n\t\n\tWASHINGTON, D.C. -- Oregon's Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Rex Tillerson, the CEO of Exxon Mobil, to be Secretary of State:\r\n \r\n\u201cDonald Trump told us he would drain the swamp -- he just didn't tell us he would drain it directly into his own cabinet.\r\n\u201cExxon Mobil is not just any oil company. It is the largest fossil fuel company in the world, one that is under investigation in multiple states for misleading investors and waging a public misinformation campaign to cast doubt on climate change while Exxon's own scientists knew for decades the stark reality of the climate threat. As Secretary of State, Tillerson would be able to approve the Keystone pipeline and would be responsible for helping lead the global response to the urgent threat of climate change. An oilman has no business running international climate policy.\u00a0\r\n\u201cAdditionally, Tillerson's close ties to Putin and the fact that he personally received Russia's \u2018Order of Friendship\u2019 for the oil deals he cut in the country are deeply worrisome. Every American should be able to agree that America should forcefully respond to any foreign power\u2019s efforts to influence our elections.\u00a0 So it is deeply disturbing that Donald Trump would respond to Russia\u2019s covert campaign to help elect Trump by appointing Vladimir Putin\u2019s buddy to direct American foreign policy. With Russia invading its neighbors, threatening our allies, fueling the crisis in Syria, and hacking our own institutions, we need a diplomat ready to stand up to Russia.\u00a0\r\n\u201cGiven that we now have a serial labor law violator nominated to run the Department of Labor and someone who has sued the EPA tapped for that agency, maybe the Exxon CEO running international climate negotiations makes some perverse sense in Trumpworld. But it doesn\u2019t in reality.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0\r\n \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n     \n\t\n \n\t\n    \n    \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t  \n    \n\t\n\t\n\t  \n          \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/press-releases/merkley-on-tillerson-trump-told-us-he-was-going-to-drain-the-swamp_--he-didnt-tell-us-he-would-drain-it-directly-into-his-own-cabinet"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5247459523379803, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}