Deus Exxon Machina

President-elect Trump made his State Dept pick official on Tuesday as he named ExxonMobil chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson as the nation’s top diplomat. Tillerson will face confirmation obstacles connected to his dealings with Moscow, but he has the backing of some top GOP players. From NPR: What We Know About Rex Tillerson.

+ Tillerson has no government experience, but as Ben Casselman explains, the his current gig and his next one are not unrelated: Rex Tillerson is Already a Diplomat — For Exxon Mobil’s Shareholders.

+ Rick Perry once famously forgot the name of the Energy Department when he was listing entities he planned to shutter if elected president. As of today, he’s slated to be that agency’s next leader.

+ From The Texas Tribune: Rick Perry’s energy legacy is more complicated than you think. (For example, he’s on the board of the company trying to build the Dakota Access Pipeline.)

+ In other news, Kanye.