Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday joked with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asking him if he was the longest-serving member of President Trump’s Cabinet after he mentioned he was about to reach his one-year anniversary in the administration.
“I’m now nine days short of one year of my time as Secretary of State,” Pompeo said while appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee to testify about State, foreign operations and related programs.
{mosads}”The longest-serving member of the cabinet, right?” Graham quipped in response, prompting awkward laughter from people attending the hearing.
Pompeo could be seen smiling after Graham made the comment before saying, “Reclaiming my time.”
Graham’s comment comes amid a week in which multiple senior officials have exited the administration. Trump announced on Sunday that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who assumed her role in 2017, would be leaving her post.
NBC News reported that a recent push from Trump to renew a family separation policy at the southern border led to Nielsen’s ouster.
The White House said the following day that Trump was also removing U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles from his position. CNN reported that Trump fired Alles, though Alles has contested that report, saying that he learned “weeks ago” that there would be “transitions in leadership” across the Department of Homeland Security.
A number of high-profile administration officials, including former White House chief of staff John Kelly, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, have exited their posts in Trump’s first two years in office.
Pompeo was confirmed as secretary of State in April 2018, about a month after Trump dismissed his first State Department chief, Rex Tillerson, from the role.