Senate panel votes Monday on Pompeo as top diplomat
WASHINGTON — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has set a vote for Monday on Mike Pompeo’s nomination as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state.
Pompeo, who has made headlines in recent days for his secret trip to North Korea over Easter weekend, won the backing of the committee last year as CIA director but faces longer odds this time.
To secure the committee’s blessing, Pompeo will need at least one vote from the 10 Democrats on the 21-member panel. That’s because the day after Pompeo’s nomination was announced, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., formally stated his opposition to Pompeo’s bid.
The committee can still send Pompeo’s nomination to the Senate floor for a vote with an unfavorable recommendation if only a minority of panel members support his nomination. But Pompeo risks becoming the first secretary of state nominee in almost a century to fail to gain a favorable committee recommendation before advancing to the floor.
In recent days, a number of Democrats have spoken out against his nomination.
OnWednesday,Sen.Sheldon Whitehouse, R-R.I., who supported Pompeo as CIA director, said he would not back him for a role with “a much broader policy portfolio.”
“In that portfolio, Mr. Pompeo’s record as a member of Congress is alarming,” Whitehouse said. “He denied human beings’ role in driving climate change. He vilified people based on their faith, and attacked women’s essential reproductive rights. And he pushed reckless military intervention over diplomacy. His extreme views on these issues — and many more — make me unable to support his nomination as America’s top diplomat.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who voted to confirm Pompeo as CIA director, said in a statement Tuesday that she could not do the same for his bid to be top diplomat, citing concerns with Pompeo’s positions on gay rights, Muslim Americans and women’s reproductive rights.
Shaheen joined Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who also backed Pompeo as CIA director, but announced his opposition to Pompeo’s secretary of state bid over issues that include Pompeo’s hawkish views in the past. Kaine complained that Pompeo “would exacerbate President Trump’s weaknesses rather than uphold our diplomatic legacy” — particularly when it came to the use of force in approaching Iran.