Senate confirms Pompeo as CIA chief despite protest
NM senators vote against Kansas congressman
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the CIA, Rep. Mike Pompeo, was overwhelmingly confirmed Monday by the Senate.
Senators voted 66-32 despite resistance from a core group of Democrats who remained critical of Pompeo’s shifting views on the government’s surveillance programs. They also wanted assurances he would oppose torture as an interrogation technique and continue the investigation of Russia’s influence in the 2016 election.
New Mexico’s senators, Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, both Democrats, voted against the confirmation.
One Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, joined more than half the Democratic senators in opposition.
“He is the wrong man for the job,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who led the opposition.
Trump had hoped to have his national security team in place on Inauguration Day, but Democrats stalled Pompeo’s confirmation, drawing a sharp rebuke from Republicans who warned against leaving the top intelligence job vacant.
Pompeo, a four-term Kansas congressman, brings military and business experience to the CIA, having graduated at the top of his class at West Point before earning a law degree from Harvard University.
“This is a man who understands exactly what it takes to keep America safe,” said Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
During his confirmation hearing, Pompeo broke with Trump over the intelligence assessment of Russian meddling in the election, saying he found the report “sound.” It concluded that Russian agencies hacked computers and spread fake news in an effort to help elect Trump.