Pence breaks deadlock to confirm Sam Brownback as ambassador
Dems opposed Kansas governor
WASHINGTON — Kansas Republican Sam Brownback, one of the most unpopular governors in the country, narrowly survived a vote to confirm his bid for a big Trump administration job on Wednesday, as Vice President Mike Pence broke two ties that kept his nomination alive.
“I’m glad to have the vice president in my corner,” Mr. Brownback told reporters seconds after Mr. Pence cast the tie-breaking vote.
By the slimmest of margins, two dramatic partyline votes in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday cleared the way for Mr. Brownback’s confirmation to an at-large ambassadorship for international religious freedom, based in Washington, D.C.
The 50-49 votes ended a frustrating six-month wait for Mr. Brownback — a favorite of Christian conservatives for his views on samesex marriage and abortion who has had a divisive tenure as governor of Kansas — who was nominated for the ambassadorship by President Donald Trump in July.
The final Senate vote to confirm the nomination took place Wednesday around 5 p.m., officially clearing the way for Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, a Johnson County surgeon, to succeed Mr. Brownback as governor.
Mr. Brownback has faced strong Democratic opposition to his nomination over his record on gay rights, so he needed unified Republican support on Wednesday for the Senate to proceed to the final confirmation vote. Republicans control 51 of the Senate’s 100 seats.
With Arizona Republican John McCain absent Wednesday to receive treatment for cancer and Tennessee RepublicanBob Corker traveling overseas, Mr. Brownback had very little margin for error.
His former Senate colleagues ended up deadlocking 49-49 over whether to let his nomination proceed. Mr. Pence, who returned from an overseas trip in the early hours of Wednesday morning, rushed to the U.S. Capitol to break the tie. This was the seventh time Mr. Pence has had to cast a tie-breaking vote, with the eighth cast for Mr. Brownback’s final confirmation vote later Wednesday.
Not a single Democrat crossed the aisle to support Mr. Brownback, who once was seen as a rising Republican star and possible presidential candidate.
Even senators who had served with Mr. Brownback for years in Congress voted no, including Dianne Feinstein of California, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Richard Durbin of Illinois and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, from Kansas’ neighbor Missouri, also voted no..