Pompeo to get nomination hearing Thursday
CIA Director Mike Pompeo will appear before a key Senate panel next week as part of his nomination to be secretary of State.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, announced that he will hold a hearing on Thursday.
The hearing is a first step in the Senate’s consideration of Pompeo’s nomination to the position.
{mosads}Pompeo met with Corker before Congress left for a two-week break. Several aides for Democratic members of the committee told The Hill on Friday that their bosses are scheduled to meet with him next week.
Pompeo was expected to get a hearing this month. Corker said immediately following Pompeo’s nomination that the two had a “very good conversation” and the committee would “consider his nomination as expeditiously as possible.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has already said he will oppose Pompeo’s nomination, complicating his path to a Senate floor vote.
Republicans have a one-seat advantage on the panel. If every Democrat opposes him, it would result in a 10-11 vote.
But Corker has hinted that he would move the nomination to the floor anyway, while urging reporters to let the situation “play out.”
Fourteen Democrats and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) previously supported Pompeo to be CIA director.
Trump removed Rex Tillerson as secretary of State last month, naming Pompeo to succeed him.