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Senate panel approves secretary of state
Sen. Paul flips to ‘yes’ after being opposed
The Foreign Relations Committee gave its OK, along party lines, to CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
WASHINGTON — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved CIA Director Mike Pompeo as secretary of state on party lines Monday after a Republican holdout changed his mind at the last minute, avoiding an embarrassing defeat for President Donald Trump.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky had vowed to oppose Pompeo, but Paul tweeted shortly before the vote that after speaking repeatedly to the two men, he was convinced that Pompeo now agreed with Trump that “the Iraq War was a mistake and it is time to leave Afghanistan,” two of his key concerns.
The full Senate already appeared on track to confirm Pompeo’s nomination this week after two Senate Democrats, both facing reelection battles in states that Trump won handily, offered support earlier Monday. The Senate traditionally gives broad leeway to a president’s Cabinet picks.
But Paul’s reversal meant Pompeo, 54, also got the approval of the Senate committee, thus keeping its record of approving every president’s nominee for secretary of state. Nominations were not routinely submitted to the panel until the 20th century.
The final vote was delayed when Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., failed to appear at the hearing, leading to a 10-10 tie along party lines. After a brief recess, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., then agreed to withdraw his vote against, so the final tally was 10-9 in favor.
Pompeo attended the U.S. military academy at West Point and Harvard Law School. He was elected to the House in 2010 as a tea party Republican from Kansas, and served three terms until he joined the Trump administration.
Trump has said he and Pompeo were “on the same wavelength” and shared a worldview — unlike his first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. Trump fired Tillerson last month via Twitter.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, praised Pompeo before the vote. “There is probably no one in the United States who knows more about what is going on in the world today,” he said, stressing Pompeo’s “very good relationship” with Trump.
Trump had excoriated Pompeo’s opponents Monday morning on Twitter as “obstructionists,” claiming that Democrats “will not approve hundreds of good people” by “maxing out” the confirmation process.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders went further, questioning the patriotism of Democrats.
“Look, at some point, Democrats have to decide whether they love this country more than they hate this president,” she said on Fox News. “And they have to decide that they want to put the safety and the security and the diplomacy of our country ahead of their own political games.”
Republican lawmakers blamed Pompeo’s difficulties on political partisanship in an election year, noting that many of the Democrats who oppose him now backed his nomination last year to head the CIA. He was confirmed by a vote of 66-32.
Democrats argued that the job of America’s top diplomat — fourth in line to the presidency — is vastly different from CIA chief.
Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, argued Monday that Pompeo was unqualified for the job.
“This suggestion that there is partisanship just because we don’t support a candidate is ridiculous,” Menendez said.
He said Pompeo, in his confirmation hearing last week, gave contradictory answers that were not always “forthright” and exhibited a “lack of depth of knowledge” on key global hot spots.
Democrats and other opponents have criticized some of Pompeo’s past statements as anti-Muslim and prejudiced against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. Pompeo told the Senate committee last week that if he is confirmed, he would defend gay rights and respect minorities.
Menendez also said he was disillusioned that Pompeo had concealed, in private conversations, his then-secret trip to North Korea over the Easter weekend.
On Monday, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., joined Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, DN.D., to announce support for Pompeo. Their votes should be enough to guarantee he squeaks through the narrowly divided Senate.