At hearing, senators likely will press Pompeo on foreign policy

Secretary of state nominee will face Syria, tariff queries.

Mike Pompeo, the CIA director and secretary of state nominee, will be pressed to define the Trump administration’s foreign policy strategy during one of the most turbulent periods of international relations in the president’s tenure.

At his Senate confirmation hearing today, Pompeo is likely to be questioned about potential retaliation against Syria over an alleged chemical attack, the administration’s plans to impose tariffs on imports and a planned meeting with North Korea’s leader after months of heightened tensions over nuclear testing. Lawmakers also are likely to ask about deteriorating relations with Russia and whether the administration will pull out of the nuclear pact with Iran.

Senators want to know whether the White House is shifting strategies with President Donald Trump’s nomination of Pompeo and his appointment of John Bolton as national security adviser, both of whom share more hawkish views than their predecessors. Pompeo, 54, a former House member from Kansas, will also face questions on whether policy will be made in a deliberative process or based on the president’s impulses.

“A lot of us are worried about the combination of Pompeo and Bolton putting a set of military options on the table for the president,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters Tuesday. “It could do real damage to our national security.”

Democrats say Pompeo can expect a tough confirmation fight, even though he already went through the process to become CIA director with bipartisan support and will get more courtesy than a typical nominee because he’s a former congressman.

He’ll need bipartisan support to clear the panel, which Republicans govern with a narrow 11-10 majority. Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, a member of the committee, came out against Trump’s pick even before Trump formally nominated Pompeo.

Paul cited what he said is Pompeo’s past support for waterboarding and other forms of torture.

Without Democratic support, the administration could face an unprecedented scenario where a secretary of state nominee can’t clear committee, and Republican leaders would have to decide whether to take the matter straight to the Senate floor for a vote. With GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona absent for brain cancer treatments, Republicans have 50 votes compared with the Democrats’ 49.