Key senators on the hot seat in Pompeo confirmation vote
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s beleaguered choice for his second secretary of state faces its first test Monday as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a confirmation vote. But the more intense drama is likely to unfold during the week, when Mike Pompeo struggles to find the 50 votes he needs to win the job.
While Republicans control 51 Senate seats, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is not expected to be present. With Sen. Rand Paul, RKy., opposed, if all other Republicans back Pompeo — and that’s not yet clear — he’d still be one short.
The committee, which plans to vote Monday, has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Even if Pompeo gets an unfavorable recommendation from the panel, the Senate is expected to consider the nomination later in the week.
These are the key senators to watch:
Paul: The only Republican known to be opposed to Pompeo, Paul is under pressure from Trump to reverse himself.
Trump said Wednesday that he was confident that Paul won’t “let me down.” But Paul, who met Thursday with Pompeo after Trump asked them to talk, said it would take a “great deal” to change his mind, including a public declaration that Pompeo believes that the Iraq War was a mistake.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.: McCaskill, one of the country’s most vulnerable Democrats in November, has yet to say whether she’ll support Pompeo’s nomination. She voted to confirm him as CIA director.
“They’re different jobs and they have a much different role,” McCaskill said.
McCaskill met with Pompeo Wednesday. She is in a tough spot politically because she is running for re-election as a Democrat in a state Trump won by nearly 19 percentage points.
She’s also under pressure from liberal groups to oppose Pompeo, and a vote for him could anger her base.
Sen. Jeff Flake, RAriz.: Flake as not yet said how he plans to vote, saying that he wants to speak again with Pompeo before deciding.
Flake this past week temporarily withheld support for Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, because he wanted to talk with Pompeo about trade and travel restrictions to Cuba, according to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Flake would say only that he wanted to talk to Pompeo “on a number of issues.”
Sen. Chris Coons, DDel.: Every Democrat on the committee has pledged to vote against Pompeo, except for Coons, who has not yet disclosed his position. He said calls to his office were overwhelmingly against confirmation. He said he was “leaning against” voting to confirm, but wanted to take his time.
“While I respect his background of military and public service and am encouraged by his stated commitment to our diplomatic corps, I remain concerned that Director Pompeo will embolden, rather than moderate or restrain, President Trump’s most belligerent and dangerous instincts,”’ Coons said in a statement Friday.
Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.V.: Manchin voted to confirm Pompeo as CIA director. And the senator is up for re-election in a state that Trump won easily in 2016.
Manchin met Tuesday with Pompeo and said, “We’ve had good conversations and are going to have some more.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the Senate would confirm Pompeo, regardless of the panel vote Monday.
“Senator Paul has unusual foreign policy views that are not representative of the Republican Senate caucus,” Cotton said. “That is another example of why the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is not representative of the Senate as a whole.”