Pompeo wins vote to lead State Dept.
Some senators concerned he’ll downplay diplomacy
WASHINGTON – The Senate confirmed CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Thursday as President Trump’s next secretary of State.
After the 57-42 vote, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Pompeo will play an important role in negotiations between the United States and North Korea.
“In fact, he’s already played a role as director of the CIA,” Cornyn said, referring to a trip Pompeo made to North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong Un in late March.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he worries that Pompeo “will hamper American diplomacy.”
Though Blumenthal praised the opening Pompeo made with North Ko- rea, “the success of those negotiations will depend on diplomacy, not spies, and he has no experience in diplomacy.”
He urged Pompeo to rely on State Department diplomats “with the experience and expertise to be successful around the world.”
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., cited statements by Pompeo calling for military strikes on Iran as a solution to its disputed nuclear program, calling out American Muslim leaders as tacit supporters of terrorism and calling for U.S. withdrawal from international agreements on Iran’s nuclear program and climate change.
“It’s incumbent on our next secretary of State to work with our allies in Europe, with all of our allies,” Cardin said. Pompeo “suggests we should pull out of the agreement if we can’t change it, even though Iran is in compliance with that agreement. That’s not diplomacy.”
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Monday along party lines to recommend Pompeo for secretary of State. All the Democrats on the committee opposed Pompeo’s nomination, primarily because of his hawkish views.
Pompeo, a West Point graduate and former Army captain, was elected three times to the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas. He’s led the CIA since Trump came to office in January 2017.
During his confirmation hearing, Pompeo said he would rebuild the ranks of the State Department, which has seen departures among senior staff, including the ouster of Pompeo’s predecessor, Rex Tillerson. Trump fired Tillerson in March after months of disagreements.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., urged his colleagues to vote in favor of Pompeo, who he said is “uniquely qualified.”
“We need Mike Pompeo, and we need him now,” Roberts said. “He will be forthright, he will be independent, and yes, he will be diplomatic.”
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that there will be a NATO ministerial meeting Friday in Brussels. “Us passing him out today will allow Pompeo to participate in this important mission,” Corker said.