Mike Pompeo won the endorsement of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be the U.S Secretary of State on Monday after all the Republicans on the panel stayed united behind him. The full Senate will vote on his nomination later this week.
None of the 10 Democrats on the panel voted for Mr. Pompeo.
Mr. Pompeo faced the prospects of an unfavorable vote by the Committee until the last minute, when Republican Rand Paul withdrew his objection and voted ‘yes.’ All 11 Republican members voted for Mr. Pompeo.
“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. President Trump believes that Iraq was a mistake, that regime change has destabilised the region, and that we must end our involvement with Afghanistan," Mr. Paul explained his change of heart in a statement.
“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,” he said. Mr. Pompeo had advocated for a regime change in North Korea earlier.
Senator Bob Menendez, Ranking Member of the Committee said in his concluding remarks that the nominee has made contradictory remarks on social and political issues, and did not inspire confidence that he would stand up for “American values.” Mr. Menendez cited Mr. Pompeo’s campaign against his Indian American opponent Raj Goyle in the 2010 Congressional election.
“When the President wants to call Mexicans drug-traffickers and rapists, as our nation’s top diplomat, would Director Pompeo advise him not to? Or would the Pompeo who once called a political opponent a “turban-topper” prevail?,” Mr. Menendez asked. Mr. Pompeo was earlier a member of the U.S House of Representatives and is currently director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Mr. Pompeo had not used the epithet himself, but a pad staffer with his campaign had tweeted an article that used that. Mr. Pompeo apologised for the incident later.
