Senate committee backs Pompeo as Trump’s secretary of state

WASHINGTON — In a dramatic turn of events that showed the Trump White House retains a firm grip on Senate Republicans, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of CIA Chief Mike Pompeo to be the next secretary of state.

Democrats put up stiff resistance and voted against Pompeo, who President Donald Trump nominated to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom he fired last month. Only a last-minute switch by Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul — whom Trump called before the vote — enabled Pompeo to win committee approval.

A negative committee vote would not have kept Pompeo from taking the helm at Foggy Bottom, as the full Senate is expected to confirm him. But a committee rejection of a secretary of state nominee would have been the first since the panel started keeping records in 1925.

Washington insiders were expecting an embarrassing ordeal for Pompeo, after Paul announced last week that he would not vote to confirm the CIA chief because of his support for the Iraq war, which Paul opposed.

With Republicans controlling 11 of the committee’s 21 seats, and all 10 Democrats signaling their opposition to Pompeo, Paul’s announcement seemed to seal Pompeo’s fate in the committee.

But then minutes before the committee convened, Paul announced he was switching his vote.

“I have changed my mind,” Paul said, explaining he received reassurances that Pompeo agrees with the president that the Iraq war was a “mistake” and that it is time for U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan.

Asked about Paul’s change of heart, Trump said, “He’s a good man.”

Having received assurances from President Trump and Director Pompeo that he agrees with the President on these important issues, I have decided to support his nomination to be our next Secretary of State.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 23, 2018

That seemed to echo comments Trump made last week to reporters when he said: “I will say this about Rand Paul. He’s never let me down.”

Committee drama

Even with all Republicans present voting for Pompeo, the committee vote did not go off without a hitch.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., was not in the chamber as he had been delivering a eulogy – and he was not expected in Washington until after 10:30 p.m. That meant the vote was deadlocked at 10-10.

After some bargaining, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., agreed to allow his vote to be recorded as “present” so the Pompeo recommendation could go forward with a 10-9 majority recommendation.

Pompeo’s nomination now goes to the full Senate, where he is expected to win confirmation after three Democratic senators – Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia – announced ahead of the committee vote that they will support him.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says he looks forward to voting to confirm Pompeo this week.

Still, the White House maneuver shows that the administration was not willing to accept an ugly win, when it could use its considerable clout to keep stray Republicans in line. As White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short told Axios, “I still think it’s hard for Rand Paul to explain to Kentucky voters how he voted ‘yes’ for John Kerry for secretary of state and ‘no’ for Mike Pompeo.”

Democrats withhold support

While 15 senators who are Democrats or caucus with Democrats had voted to confirm Pompeo as CIA chief last year, the minority party has been less inclined to support him to head the State Department.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the ranking Democrat on the committee, said that he was unhappy with the CIA chief’s answers at a recent committee hearing and wondered, “which Mike Pompeo am I voting on?”

Pompeo brings a wide resume to the job — first in his class at West Point, editor of the Harvard Law Review at Harvard Law School, a former businessman and four-term congressman in the House of Representatives when Trump tapped him to head the CIA.

Behind Pompeo in the confirmation pipeline are Gina Haspel, a career intelligence officer whom Trump nominated to take over the CIA, and Dr. Ronny Johnson, the White House doctor whom Trump picked to serve as secretary of Veterans Affairs. Both are considered weaker candidates — Haspel because of her background interrogating terrorism detainees and Johnson for his lack of experience as an administrator.

“The Democrats seemed to be pulling their punches when it came to Pompeo,” said Brett Plitt Bruen, who served in President Barack Obama’s National Security Council. “In part that’s due to the part that they were waiting for a better fight, where they see a chance to knock down one of Trump’s nominees.”

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.