(CNN) Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of state, advanced out of committee Monday with a favorable recommendation, following a last minute reversal from Sen. Rand Paul that averted a historic rebuke of the President's pick to be the country's top diplomat.

The Senate committee voted 11 to 9 with Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware voting present and Sen. Isakson voting by proxy.

"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," Paul, R-Kentucky, tweeted.

The vote had nearly been stalled because Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican from Georgia, was not able to attend as he had been delivering a eulogy at a close friend's funeral. Under Senate rules, a member who is not present cannot cast the determinative vote. But, in order to speed things up, Coons -- having already publicly voted against Pompeo's nomination -- voted present to move the nomination out of committee before 11 p.m. ET, when Isakson could have arrived.

Paul's previous opposition put Pompeo on track for a historic distinction: the first secretary of state nominee not to win a favorable recommendation from the committee, according to the Senate Historical Office