washington rex tillerson job chief u.s. diplomat become hard even begin white house move antagonize muslim nations european ally mexico u.s. bureaucrats current former u.s. officials say hours senate confirm tillerson 69th secretary state 56-43 vote former exxon mobil corp ceo swear chief foreign affairs adviser president donald trump senate vote largely along party line 52 republicans vote favor along three democrats one independent tillerson take post state department thursday morning address staff circumstance tillerson would inherit messy globe civil war syria nuclear-armed north korea threaten test intercontinental ballistic missile challenge rise china assertive russia 12 days since trump inauguration however white house take step foreign policy professionals view self-inflicted wound do series goals say senior u.s. official condition anonymity always mess-ups friction new administrations new bad usual thursday mexican president enrique pena nieto take rare step cancel washington trip meet trump repeatedly demand mexico pay wall u.s. border friday trump sign executive order impose four-month hold refugees enter unite state temporary bar travelers seven muslim-majority countries iran iraq libya somalia sudan syria yemen order cause consternation nations involve among muslim-majority countries ally germany britain career state department officials 900 department officials sign memo dissent policy source familiar document say unusual rebellion new president policies report internal dissent spread monday white house spokesman sean spic say career officials disagree get program go result two constituencies tillerson manage foreign nations u.s. diplomatic corps already get nose joint swearing-in start disadvantage play catch-up build trust foreign counterparts state department employees say john bellinger state department legal adviser republican president george w. bush tillerson walk situation get unhappy suspicious white house unhappy suspicious workforce say another former state department official speak condition anonymity would difficult enough give chaos several current former u.s. officials say dismay process lead executive order little evidence broad consultation within government let alone congress foreign ally secretary homeland security john kelly report largely blindside order accord new york time white house conference call get first full brief trump sign order loren dejonge schulman former national security council pentagon official say belief trump bring top advisers discussion matter would handicap new secretary state secretary state power influence primarily derive idea speak president say schulman center new american security think tank washington say open secret white house may consult cabinet officials matter fact foreign audiences realize day one go definitely weaken hand say tillerson 's job chief u.s. diplomat get hard begin