Could Mike Pompeo’s Nomination Actually Be Shot Down?

Curt Mills

Politics, Americas

The secretary of state-designate is as pedigreed they come, but the GOP could be operating on an airtight margin in the Senate. Is his nomination actually in peril?

A recent report in Foreign Policy raises an interesting specter: CIA Director Mike Pompeo, the president’s choice to replace Rex Tillerson at Secretary of State, could fail to gain Senate confirmation.

FP reports of a “brutal confirmation fight,” a “nail-biter vote,” a confirmation that is “definitely not a deal” and reporter Robbie Gramer ribs the White House for “acting as if … Pompeo’s confirmation as secretary of state is a foregone conclusion.”

Pompeo, for what it’s worth, has also treated his approval as near-assured, even before getting the nomination feeling out allies for jobs in Foggy Bottom, including Juan Zarate of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the Financial Integrity Network, as I’ve reported. Mr. Zarate could also soon be up for a Senate-confirmable job.

So is Pompeo a shoe-in?

An aide to a prominent Democratic senator confirms things are definitely heating up against Pompeo—but to what end is unclear.

An aide to another prominent Democratic tells me ailing Sen. John McCain, the swing Republican, will vote, and will vote against Pompeo.

Why? “Torture,” the source, who represents a Democrat who is friendly with the Arizona senator, told me. McCain hasn’t been to capitol since December.

Pompeo’s record is hawkish, and he has spoken favorably of some controversial Bush administration policies, but is he out of line of what most Republicans would have have said from 2011 to 2017 (the years he represented a Kansas district in the House)? Pompeo attacked President Barack Obama for closing CIA black sites. Some have accused him of having an ax to grind against Islam, with a history of some questionable associations, as highlighted by the New York Times Friday morning.