Senate Democrats Monday rejected Republican claims anti-Trump politics are behind their near-unanimous opposition to CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s nomination to be the next secretary of state, even though Democrats brought substantial support to prior GOP nominations for the same position.
“I honestly don’t see that,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., when asked if pure politics is a factor. “[P]eople have very great concerns. I’m not saying that’s not part of it for somebody, but there’s a lot of legitimate concerns I think.”
Stabenow, a three-term Democrat, voted for both Colin Powell in 2001 and Condoleezza Rice in 2005, both nominees of President George W. Bush.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., pointed to a number of reasons for opposing the outgoing spymaster. Among them, he took issue with comments made by Pompeo after the 2013 Boston marathon bombing, when he claimed Muslim clerics were complicit in the attacks.
“I think someone who has publicly supported pulling out of the Paris Agreement, pulling out of the Iran agreement, using sorties to destroy the nuclear program in North Korea, is different than past nominees,” said Markey, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Pompeo did have the support of 14 Senate Democrats when he was confirmed to lead the CIA, a sign Democrats believe the role of secretary of state is different enough to warrant another candidate.
But Republicans aren’t buying it. They say there’s no legitimate argument against Pompeo, and that the real factor is calls from the Democratic base to resist Trump at all costs.
They note Democrats have been able to show support for secretary of state nominees under past Republican presidents, but not for Trump.
Dating back to the Carter administration, the 85 votes Rice received were the fewest, until Rex Tillerson’s confirmation last January garnered only 56. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, both contentious figures in Republican circles, each earned 94 votes when they were confirmed in 2009 and 2013, respectively, which GOP senators still believe were the right moves.
“I like to think that Republicans on issues like that have taken the high road in the past,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. “But in this case, it really kind of defies explanation. I don’t understand. On the merits, at least, and the substance, this is a guy who’s just supremely qualified, and it’s a position that we need filled with all the things we’ve got going on in the world right now, so I don’t know how else to explain it.”
“In the past, Republicans have always played ball, especially on these national security positions, and I think think in this case, the Democrats are just being — it’s hard to explain other than to say it’s just pure politics,” Thune said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the opening to oppose secretary of state nominees started with the polarization surrounding judicial nominations, dating all the way back to Robert Bork’s rejected Supreme Court nomination in 1987.
“The advise and consent role of the United States Senate in a traditional sense has been obliterated. It started with judges, now it’s going everywhere else,” Graham said. “The advise and consent role of the Senate is more about party politics and your base than it is about qualifications.”
Nevertheless, Republicans will get their way, and Pompeo is expected to be confirmed at the end of the week after a trio of red state Democrats up for re-election — Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., — announced they will support Pompeo.
Republicans also will have the entire GOP caucus behind Pompeo’s nomination after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., revealed Monday evening he would support Pompeo both on the floor and in Monday’s committee vote. Trump said last week that Paul has “never let me down,” but the move was still a surprise to some in the caucus.
“I feel good that he’s doing it. I appreciate it. I’m a little suspicious that Mike Pompeo is now an isolationist,” Graham joked. “I think it was more Rand Paul talking himself into it, but I don’t care. I’m glad he’s voting for him.”
A floor vote to confirm Pompeo is expected later in the week.
