Pompeo becomes U.S. secretary of state
WASHINGTON — Mike Pompeo took over as America’s top diplomat Thursday after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in across the street minutes later. The new secretary of state immediately dashed off to Europe in an energetic start befitting the high-stakes issues awaiting him from Iran to North Korea.
The hard-charging former CIA director was confirmed on a 57-42 vote — one of the slimmest margins for the job in recent history. Every past nominee to get a roll call vote since at least the Carter administration received 85 or more yes votes in the Senate, with the exception of Trump’s first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who got 56.
Pompeo was sworn in at the Supreme Court by Justice Samuel Alito, a fellow Italian-American, who said he was “proud” to officiate for the occasion. Pompeo, in a statement relayed by the State Department, said he was “delighted” to serve as America’s top diplomat.
“I am completely humbled by the responsibility and looking forward to serving the American people and getting to work right away,” Pompeo said.
Then it was off to Andrews Air Force Base, where a government aircraft was waiting to ferry him to Brussels for meetings at NATO headquarters. State Department staffers, widely reported to be demoralized after a tumultuous first year of President Donald Trump’s administration, gave a round of applause to Pompeo, who responded as he boarded the aircraft with a casual, “Hi, I’m Mike.”
Pompeo, a former Republican congressman from Kansas, is expected to guide Trump’s foreign policy farther to the right than Tillerson, the former Exxon Mobil CEO fired by Trump on Twitter last month. He inherits a State Department that has lost relevance under Trump and a diplomatic corps deeply dispirited by the tenure of Tillerson, who pushed budget and staff cuts and eschewed public appearances while leaving key posts unfilled.
His confirmation creates a vacancy atop the CIA that will be filled, at least for now, by Gina Haspel, the intelligence agency’s No. 2 official. Trump has nominated Haspel to replace Pompeo, but she faces a rocky road to confirmation. The CIA said she took over Thursday as acting director while the Senate weighs whether to make it permanent.
For Pompeo, a long list of pressing issues awaits, including a decision on the Iran nuclear deal, Trump’s upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and disagreements in the White House about the future U.S. role in Syria.
Trump said he was pleased by Pompeo’s confirmation, calling him a “patriot” with “immense talent, energy and intellect.”
“He will always put the interests of America first,” Trump said in a statement.
Trump said Thursday that Kim Jong Un has made nuclearweapons concessions before even sitting down for talks, while the U.S. hasn’t given up anything.
Trump’s assertions came before today’s summit between North Korea and South Korea that’s expected to pave the way for a historic meeting between Trump and Kim in May or June.
Trump told Fox & Friends that his tough approach toward the North, and now his willingness to engage with Kim, had reduced the risk of nuclear war. He said North Korea has “given up denuclearization, testing, research” and that “we’re going to close different sites.”