White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that Democrats’ refusal to support Mike Pompeo’s nomination for secretary of state could damage ongoing negotiations with North Korea.

“If you just look at history, the past secretary of states have been confirmed unanimously, and Republicans have come on board and supported Hillary Clinton, John Kerry — people we know who they didn’t necessarily agree with on the political spectrum — but they knew how important this position was, and they didn’t play games with it,” Mrs. Sanders said on Fox News.

She said Mr. Pompeo has been a key player in setting up the logistics for a meeting between North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and President Trump. Few details have been released about when or where the two men plan to meet, but Mr. Pompeo visited North Korea over the Easter holiday to discuss the pending meeting, according to a Washington Post report.

Democrats have threatened to withhold their votes from Mr. Pompeo on the grounds that secretary of state is a diplomatic position and plays a major policy role in the administration, unlike the director of the Central Intelligence Agency who reports on findings from agents. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has also said he will not support Mr. Pompeo.