WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that if it were up to him, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would not have been fired.

“I look at it this way: The president is the president of the United States, he’s got to have the [people on his] team that he wants to have on his team,” Grassley said. “I happen to think that Tillerson was doing an excellent job, and if the president asked me my advice, I’d say, ‘You shouldn’t have fired him.’ “

President Donald Trump announced Tillerson’s removal on Twitter the morning of March 13.

Trump said he and Tillerson disagreed on things, specifically pointing to their disagreement on the Iran nuclear deal. He also said he has a great chemistry with Tillerson’s replacement, CIA Director Mike Pompeo. His deputy, Gina Hospel, will replace Pompeo, becoming the first woman to direct the CIA. She spent 30 years in the agency’s clandestine service before becoming deputy director.

— Madeleine Neal