Mike Pompeo narrowly approved for secretary of state by Senate committee

Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, was narrowly cleared by the Senate foreign relations committee on Monday after facing a potentially historic snub.

The Republican-led Senate panel approved Pompeo’s nomination on Monday in a mostly party-line vote of 11 to 9. All but one of the committee’s 10 Democrats voted against Pompeo, who has served as Trump’s CIA director since January 2017, while all of its 11 Republican members voted in his favor.

Leading up to the vote, it looked as though Pompeo might be the first ever secretary of state not to receive a positive recommendation from the panel. But Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the only Republican who had voiced his opposition to the nomination, cleared the way for Pompeo’s approval by switching his position just before the vote.

Paul, a libertarian who had cited concerns with Pompeo’s support for the Iraq war and torture tactics, said he made the decision after speaking several times with Trump and meeting with 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,” Paul said in a statement.

“President Trump believes that Iraq was a mistake, that regime change has destabilized the region, and that we must end our involvement with Afghanistan.

“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 added.

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware became the lone Democrat to break ranks after a procedural mix-up left the vote in limbo. Coons had recorded a no vote, but switched to help advance Pompeo’s nomination after Republican Senator Johnny Isakson was unexpectedly absent. Although Isakson voted yes by proxy, a senator must be physically present to cast the deciding vote.

Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, grew visibly emotional while praising Coons for showing “a statesmanship that I’m not accustomed to seeing in the Senate”.

Pompeo is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate later this week, albeit with the support of just a handful of Democrats facing tough re-election battles in November.

Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, both Democrats from reliably conservative states, announced in separate statements on Monday that they would vote to confirm Pompeo. North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, another vulnerable incumbent Democrat, backed Pompeo last week.

Trump nominated Pompeo for the role last month after unceremoniously firing secretary of state Rex Tillerson in a tweet. Pompeo had forged a close rapport with the president through their daily intelligence briefings.

But despite being confirmed last year as CIA director without encountering any significant hurdles, Pompeo’s nomination to lead the state department sparked swift backlash from Democrats, who cited his prior controversial remarks on Muslims and the LGBT community. Pompeo’s support for torture techniques and proclivity for military options also factored into the opposition among both Democrats.

During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, human rights groups sounded the alarm over Pompeo’s refusal to unequivocally disavow enhanced interrogation methods. Democrats also chafed at Pompeo’s reluctance to state whether he would resign if the president were to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, who is overseeing the federal investigation into Russian interference in the US election and potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, suggested it was unpatriotic of Democrats to oppose Pompeo, telling Fox News on Monday: “Democrats have to decide whether they love this country more than they hate this president.”

The transition at the state department comes at a time when Trump is dealing with several complex foreign policy challenges. The president must determine in the coming weeks whether the US will withdraw from the Iran nuclear accord, of which Pompeo is a staunch opponent.

Questions also remain over the future of US engagement in Syria and the escalating conflict with North Korea. It was revealed last week that Pompeo secretly met with Kim Jong-un during a visit to Pyongyang earlier this month to lay the groundwork of a highly anticipated sit-down between Trump and the North Korean leader in May.