After weeks of debate, President-elect Donald Trump says he will announce his pick for Secretary of State Tuesday morning.
Reports say Trump will call on Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for the spot. Sources also told Fox News Monday that “nothing is official” until Trump makes the announcement.
There was also speculation that former presidential candidate Mitt Romney was in the running for the position, along with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker and former CIA Director David Petraeus.
Giuliani officially backed out of the competition on Friday.
Romney announced that he was out of the running Monday night on Facebook, though he called his discussions with Trump “enjoyable and enlightening.”
“It was an honor to have been considered for Secretary of State of our great country,” he wrote.
Trump has met with Tillerson several times over the past week and has called him a ‘world class player.’
Tillerson’s Exxon Mobil has operations in more than 50 countries and boasts that it explores for oil and natural gas on six continents which could create questions surrounding the potential nomination.
WATCH: Rex Tillerson is ‘a world class player’: Trump on potential Secretary of State pick
Senators voice concern
Trump’s pick will have to be confirmed by U.S. senators, some of which have serious concerns about Tillerson’s ties to Russia.
In 2013, Putin bestowed a Russian state honor, the Order of Friendship, on Tillerson, citing his work “strengthening cooperation in the energy sector.”
Senator John McCain, a leading foreign policy voice and 2008 Republican candidate for president, told Reuters in an interview: “I have concerns. It’s very well known that he has a very close relationship with Vladimir Putin.”
WATCH: McCain calls Russian President Putin ‘a thug, a murderer and a killer’
Calling Putin “a KGB agent who is bent on restoring the Russian Empire,” McCain said he would await confirmation hearings if Tillerson is nominated before making a judgment on the nomination.
Another Republican, Senator Marco Rubio, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that would review a Tillerson nomination, has voiced similar worries.
Senator Charles Schumer, the incoming Senate Democratic leader, told CBS “This Morning” that “The bottom line is, every one of these nominees, particularly a guy like Tillerson, needs a thorough, thorough hearing.”
*With files from Reuters
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