Senate Republicans are eager to confirm secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo, well before President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hold their hoped-for meeting, and are likely to take up his nomination in April, according to Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas.
“I would hope we would be able to get this done pretty quickly because of the North Korea meeting,” Cornyn told the Washington Examiner. “I think that counsels some sense of urgency.”
Pompeo, currently the CIA director, is widely respected and liked by lawmakers in both chambers and was vetted in the upper chamber last year when he was confirmed as the head of the spy agency.
The vote was 66-32, including 14 Democrats, and he’s expected to win confirmation by a similar margin.
But his nominated successor could face a much bigger hurdle in the confirmation process.
Gina Haspel, who now serves as the deputy CIA director, has been bombarded with criticism within and without Congress over her alleged role in so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” practiced on suspected terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Pro Publica on Thursday put out a correction saying Haspel was not in charge of a secret prison in Thailand where an al Qaeda suspect was interrogated. But it’s not clear that this correction alone would dispel the broad suspicion that she was involved in these sorts of activities.
A smattering of Republican opposition has developed, making it probable at least some Democrats will be needed to confirm Haspel with a simple majority.
“There is going to be some controversy associated with that,” Cornyn said of Haspel’s confirmation process.
Republicans currently control 51 seats, the bare majority required to confirm an executive branch nominee.
But Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., has been absent for cancer treatment. It’s not clear whether he will be back in time to vote on the nomination or whether he would even back Haspel, who has been accused by human rights groups of overseeing a CIA program of enhanced interrogation — the agency’s term for torture — more than a decade ago.
“The torture of detainees in U.S. custody during the last decade was one of the darkest chapters in American history,” McCain said in a statement after Haspel was nominated.
“Ms. Haspel needs to explain the nature and extent of her involvement in the CIA’s interrogation program during the confirmation process,” he said. “I know the Senate will do its job in examining Ms. Haspel’s record as well as her beliefs about torture and her approach to current law.”
While McCain’s vote may be in doubt, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., announced he is a firm “no” on Haspel.
Paul said last week he’ll also oppose Pompeo over his stance on attacking Iran and will do all he can to block confirmation of the two nominees.
While other Democrats are likely to back Pompeo, neutralizing Paul’s opposition, it’s not clear how many Democrats will oppose Haspel.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said there are “lots of outstanding questions” about Haspel, but declined to say whether he would tell his rank-and-file Democrats to oppose her.
A leading Democrat on the matter, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, years ago vetted Haspel on her role in post-Sept. 11 interrogations when Haspel advanced in the CIA during the Obama administration. Feinstein initially opposed her and now is again trying to put the brakes on Haspel.
In a Thursday letter, Feinstein called on Haspel and Pompeo to declassify “pertinent documents related to Haspel’s role” in the interrogation program.
Feinstein told the pair, “My fellow senators and I must have a complete picture of Ms. Haspel’s involvement in the program in order to fully and fairly review her record and qualifications.” Feinstein also called the interrogation program’s use, “one of the darkest chapters in American history.”
Cornyn acknowledged a unified Democratic front would block Haspel if Republicans can’t come up with a majority. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is “undecided,” about Haspel, a spokesman said Thursday.
But Cornyn said the vast majority of Republicans will back Haspel, who he argued was working to keep the nation safe following the terrorist attacks. Defenders of enhanced interrogation argue the practice yielded critical information used to prevent new terrorist attacks.
Haspel, 61, has risen in the ranks of the spy agency over three decades and, if confirmed, would be the first woman to lead the agency.
“If they want to have a fight against protecting the safety and the security of the country against a follow-on attack after 9/11, go for it,” Cornyn said. “Maybe we need to remind people what we were doing after Sept. 11, after 3,000 people died.”
