Tilting the tally
Pompeo facing rare opposition from Senate panel
President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, is facing serious opposition before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which may not have enough votes to recommend him for confirmation because all Democrats, and at least one Republican, have said they will oppose him.
The full Senate is still expected to consider Pompeo’s nomination later this week. But the rare rebuke expected from the panel Monday, even after Pompeo’s recent visit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, would be the first time since its record-keeping started in 1925 that a nominee for the high-level Cabinet position did not receive a favourable committee vote.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the committee, blamed partisan politics for opposition to Pompeo, now the CIA director, saying Pompeo is just as qualified as past secretaries of state nominees Hillary Clinton or John Kerry, both of whom received overwhelming support.
“We are in an era where somebody like this, who is qualified, unfortunately, is likely to be voted out without recommendation or with a negative recommendation,” Corker said Sunday on “State of the Union” on CNN. “It’s just sad that our nation has devolved politically to this point.”
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders called on Democrats to support Pompeo Monday, saying on Fox News: “at some point Democrats have to decide whether they love this country, more than they hate this president.”
Pompeo’s confirmation before the full Senate now hangs in balance, with the votes of just a handful of senators determining whether he becomes the nation’s top diplomat after Trump fired Rex Tillerson last month.
A boost came Monday when two Democrats who previously supported him at CIA, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, announced their support, tilting the tally closer to confirmation.
Manchin said “during this sensitive diplomatic time, it’s important our next secretary of State understands the grave threats facing our nation and can offer diplomatic solutions to avoid conflict, as soon as possible.”
Key Democrats, including some who had voted for Pompeo as CIA director last year, are peeling away, and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky remains opposed, despite personal overtures from the president.