Pompeo faces tough senate panel grilling
Trump’s nominee for secretary of state faces serious opposition before the Senate panel, which may not have enough votes to recommend his confirmation; partisan politics blamed for opposition to Pompeo
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, is facing serious opposition before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which may not have enough votes to recommend him for confirmation because all Democrats, and at least one Republican, have said they will oppose him.
The full Senate is still expected to consider Pompeo’s nomination later this week. But the rare rebuke expected from the panel Monday, even after Pompeo’s recent visit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, would be the irst time in years that a nominee for the highlevel cabinet position did not receive a favorable committee vote.
Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the committee, blamed partisan politics for opposition to Pompeo, now the CIA director, saying Pompeo is just as qualiied as past secretaries of state nominees Hillary Clinton or John Kerry, both of whom received overwhelming support.
“We are in an era where somebody like this, who is qualiied, unfortunately, is likely to be voted out without recommendation or with a negative recommendation,” Corker said Sunday on “State of the Union” on CNN.
“It’s just sad that our nation has devolved politically to this point.”
Pompeo’s conirmation before the full Senate now hangs in balance, with the votes of just a handful of senators determining whether he becomes the nation’s top diplomat after Trump ired Rex Tillerson last month.
Key Democrats, including some who had voted for Pompeo as CIA director last year, are peeling away, and Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky remains opposed, despite personal overtures from the president.
Pressure is mounting on senators from both sides.
White House allies are unloading ad campaigns against Democrats from Trump-won states, including North Dakota, Indiana and Missouri, to vote for the president’s nominee. But progressive groups are pounding senators’ ofices in opposition to Pompeo’s hawkish foreign policy views and negative comments about gay marriage and Muslims. As soon as Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., announced her support last week, one group called on her to switch.
“I don’t agree with every position he’s taken or every word he has spoken,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-maine, said Sunday on “Meet the Press” on NBC.