Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Friday he’s unsure if he will vote to confirm Mike Pompeo to be President Trump’s secretary of state, even though he supported his nomination to lead the CIA.
“I’m still weighing it, but I’ll tell you, I walked in with serious questions and they weren’t really laid to rest yesterday by his testimony,” Kaine said on CNN.
Sen. Tim Kaine says he doesn’t know if he will vote to confirm Mike Pompeo for secretary of state: “I walked in with serious questions and they weren’t really laid to rest yesterday by his testimony” https://t.co/faosvO4bGQ pic.twitter.com/NVoPG69HEB
— New Day (@NewDay) April 13, 2018
Kaine was one of two Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that voted to confirm Pompeo as CIA director last year.
“I voted for him to head the CIA and don’t wish I had that vote back, I think he has a background in intel and was a good solid manager there,” Kaine said. “But what I really doubted going into the meeting, where is this guy’s predisposition for diplomacy.”
Kaine’s remarks indicate how tough it could be for Pompeo to win confirmation in the Senate. If every Democrat opposes him, he could only lose a few Republicans, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has already said he would not vote for him. Republicans have a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate.
