From The Hill
The Senate narrowly confirmed CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be secretary of State on Thursday, overcoming steep opposition to his nomination.
Senators voted 57-42, just over the simple majority needed for approval by the chamber.
Pompeo’s confirmation was a virtual lock after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) reversed his position and said he would support Trump’s pick.
The announcement came amid an intense pressure campaign by the White House and spared Pompeo the dubious distinction of being the first secretary of State nominee since at least 1925 to fail to win over the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“After calling continuously for weeks for Director Pompeo to support President Trump’s belief that the Iraq war was a mistake, and that it is time to leave Afghanistan, today I received confirmation that Director Pompeo agrees with President Trump,” Rand said explaining his decision.
But Pompeo’s nomination faced historic opposition from Democrats, sparking an unusually partisan confirmation fight for a secretary of State nomination.
Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.) and Doug Jones (Ala.) — who are each up running in states Trump won handily in 2016 — joined with Independent Sen. Angus King (Maine) to say they will support his nomination.
“In his role at the CIA, Mr. Pompeo has demonstrated the ability to be an effective manager and operator on the world stage,” Jones said in a statement explaining his decision to back Pompeo.
But that’s substantially less than the 15 Democrats, including King, who supported Pompeo last year to be CIA director.
Pompeo is poised to come close to a record on opposition votes received by a Secretary of State nominee. That record is currently held by Trump’s first secretary, Rex Tillerson, who was confirmed 56-43 last year.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who supported Pompeo to be CIA director, said this week that he would oppose him, in part, because of the Russia probe.
Red-state Democrats faced intense pressure from both sides, with progressive groups urging them to block Trump’s “war cabinet” and conservatives arguing opposition was a sign they were too liberal for their home states.
“So, what are red state Dems to do? Placate the base to pass the liberal Kamala Harris litmus test? Or vote to confirm Pompeo? Either way red state Dems are left in a no-win situation,” Katie Martin, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), said ahead of the vote.
With Paul’s reversal, Pompeo technically didn’t need help from Democrats. With Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) away from Washington, he still could have gotten a 50-49 vote if every Democrat had ultimately decided to oppose him.
But Republicans lashed out at Democrats throughout the week. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), the chairman of the NRSC, accused Democrats of “procedural sabotage.”
McConnell on Thursday called the Democratic tactics a failed attempt to “play politics.”
“It’s just too bad Director Pompeo’s confirmation process has offered such a prime example of the historic partisan obstruction that my colleagues across the aisle are visiting on the Senate,” he said.
