Mike Pompeo AP/Andrew Harnik

Three senior Republicans told Time magazine that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was seeking to resign from the Trump administration and run for the US Senate.

The State Department denied the veracity of the report Tuesday night.

Pompeo has been widely viewed as a loyal ally to President Donald Trump. It is unclear whether he has discussed resigning with the president.

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Three senior Republicans told Time magazine that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was seeking to resign from the Trump administration and run for the US Senate.

Those plans have apparently been complicated, however, by the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Pompeo was one of the first top officials in the Trump administration to be subpoenaed by House Democrats, but he failed to comply under direction from the White House.

According to the Axios reporter Jonathan Swan, the State Department categorically denies the report.

The three Republicans included „one who served in the Trump Administration, another who remains in government, and a third who served in several high-ranking posts and is active in GOP politics,“ Time reported. They spoke with the magazine anonymously to discuss their private conversations with Pompeo.

The three Republicans told the magazine that Pompeo was planning to stay on as secretary of state until early spring but that the impeachment inquiry could prompt an earlier exit.

Pompeo has been widely viewed as a loyal ally to the president, so much so that a former US ambassador described him to The New Yorker as a „heat-seeking missile for Trump’s ass.“ It is unclear whether he has discussed any plans to resign with the president.

„Rumors of a Pompeo Senate campaign have circulated for months, and while Pompeo has said repeatedly that he has no intention of running, he has not ruled out a race,“ Time said. „Pompeo aides previously have denied he was planning to step down.“

Update: This report was updated to reflect the State Department’s statement to Axios.