Sen. Rand Paul announced Wednesday he will oppose the nominations of both Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel, who President Trump has selected to serve as secretary of state and CIA director, respectively.

Paul, R-Ky., pledged “I’m going to do everything I can to block them,” and was particularly critical of Haspel, who he said showed “joyful glee” when a suspected terrorist was tortured at one of the so-called black sites during the Iraq War. Haspel has served at the CIA for more than three decades and is currently the deputy director. She was in charge of one black site located in Thailand.

Paul said he opposes Pompeo, who is now the CIA director, because he backs “regime change” in Iran and was a supporter of the Iraq War.

Paul voted against Pompeo when he was confirmed as the head of the CIA last year.

He’s even more determined to keep Haspel from confirmation.

“It’s galling to read of her glee during the waterboarding,” Paul said. “It’s absolutely appalling.”

The information about Haspel was revealed during an investigation of the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques during the Bush administration.

A U.S. official told the Washington Examiner that Paul's claims about Haspel are "not only inaccurate, but contradicted by the very source materials he relied on."

"The Senator quotes liberally from page 263 of James Mitchell’s book Enhanced Interrogation in describing the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah in claiming that Ms. Haspel was the CIA Chief of Base who was present and expressing joy at this interrogation," the official said. "A reading of the same page demonstrates that the Chief of Base present and quoted during this event was a man, not Gina Haspel. This is just one of many false claims about Ms. Haspel being peddled by the uninformed."

Paul’s opposition could create a big hurdle for the two nominees, but particularly Haspel, who unlike Pompeo, has not been vetted by the Senate.

A simple majority is needed to confirm executive branch nominees but Republicans control only 51 votes and it’s not clear whether Democrats would unify in opposition to Haspel.

If confirmed, Haspel would be the first women to run the agency.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., has expressed doubts about Haspel’s nomination. However, it's not clear if McCain will be able to vote as he remains in Arizona getting treatment for a brain tumor.

“It may be enough,” to block her, Paul said. “It depends on the solidarity of the Democrats,”

More than a dozen Democrats voted to confirm Pompeo to the CIA, which suggests he’ll get some of their votes again to run the State Department.

