Paul backs Pompeo, ensuring confirmation as secretary of state The Kentucky Republican said he had received assurances from the White House about Pompeo’s views on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Mike Pompeo won a favorable vote Monday from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after Sen. Rand Paul flipped to endorse him, paving an unexpectedly easy path for the CIA director to win confirmation as secretary of state as soon as this week.

Pompeo appeared all but guaranteed to draw an unfavorable recommendation from the committee, with Paul firmly opposed, until the Kentucky Republican opted to vote yes after getting a personal appeal from President Donald Trump. Had Paul not changed his stance, Pompeo was on track to become just the third nominee in two decades to get a negative report in committee — and likely the first in that time to win a vote in the full Senate.


Paul said his surprising turnabout on Pompeo came after multiple conversations with Trump and after getting what he described as "assurances" that the hawkish nominee sees the war in Iraq as "a mistake" and wants to wind down the U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

"President Trump believes that Iraq was a mistake, that regime change has destabilized the region, and that we must end our involvement with Afghanistan," Paul said in a statement. "Having received assurances from President Trump and Director Pompeo that he agrees with the president on these important issues, I have decided to support his nomination to be our next Secretary of State."

Trump praised Paul after the libertarian's change of heart on Pompeo, according to a pool report, saying Paul "never let me down."

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Even the final vote count on Pompeo's nomination sparked temporary intrigue in the committee, as Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) agreed to vote “present“ despite his opposition so that Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) could steer the nominee to the floor without waiting hours for the delayed Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) to vote. The final roll call was 11-9.

Paul's change of position on Pompeo, whom he had indicated he would oppose as recently as last Thursday, came minutes before the nominee's scheduled vote in the committee. Corker appealed to potential Pompeo supporters by observing that the nominee, a veteran House Republican, has forged a notably close bond with Trump.

“He has a very good relationship with the president," Corker told fellow senators ahead of the committee vote. "That is somewhat different from the last three secretaries of state we have had."

Ahead of sensitive talks with North Korea and myriad other international crises, Trump administration officials and allies also urged quick action on Pompeo‘s nomination.

Pompeo is expected to win confirmation from the full Senate later this week with unified GOP support and backing from a handful of vulnerable Democrats. After Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota became the first Democrat to announce her support on Thursday, Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) followed suit on Monday.

Among the Democrats who remain publicly undecided on Pompeo are Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, who voted for Pompeo's bid for CIA director last year, and Doug Jones of Alabama. Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire became the latest Democrat to come out in opposition to Pompeo on Monday.

Activists on the left who have pushed Democrats to oppose Pompeo, citing his past suggestion that Islamic leaders might be "potentially complicit" in terrorism as well as other politically volatile stances, lauded the committee's minority for staying united in opposition.

"We were glad to see Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hold firm and say that an Islamophobic, anti-woman, climate change-denying, pro-torture war hawk is an unacceptable choice to serve as our country’s secretary of state," Elizabeth Beavers, foreign policy manager at the liberal group Indivisible, said in a statement.