Trump pick for secretary of state faces senators’ snub

DONALD TRUMP led a last-minute scramble for votes yesterday amid fears his choice for America’s top diplomat could be handed a highly unusual snub by a committee of senators.

Mike Pompeo, proposed as Mr Trump’s new secretary of state, was struggling to secure enough support on the Senate’s foreign relations committee to approve his nomination.

No secretary of state nominee has failed to win the committee’s backing since records began in the late 19th century, according to the US Senate Historical Office. Mr Pompeo’s hawkish views on North Korea and Iran, closeness to Mr Trump and socially conservative comments made in the past have all fallen under the spotlight.

His failure to disclose a recent meeting with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, to congressmen during a nomination hearing has also been criti- cised. Mr Trump tweeted: “Hard to believe Obstructionists May vote against Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State.

“The Dems will not approve hundreds of good people, including the Ambassador to Germany. They are maxing out the time on approval process for all, never happened before. Need more Republicans!”

Mr Pompeo, the current CIA director, has been proposed as the replacement for Rex Tillerson, Mr Trump’s first secretary of state. who was fired after falling out with the president.

A rejection does not mean that Mr Pompeo will not take up the post. A full vote of the US Senate, where the Republicans enjoy a 51-49 majority, would likely follow. The last cabinet-level nominee to be rejected by a Senate committee but confirmed by the full Senate was Henry Wallace, the commerce secretary, on March 1, 1945.