Senate confirms Pompeo as nation’s top diplomat

Mike Pompeo won confirmation Thursday as the Trump administration’s second secretary of state, securing more Senate support than expected. The full Senate voted 57-42 to allow Pompeo to leave his job as director of the CIA and become the nation’s top diplomat. Pompeo’s nomination hit an unexpected snag after lawmakers learned he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but failed to mention it in his confirmation hearing. On Monday, the Foreign Relations Committee appeared to lack the votes needed to formally recommend Pompeo’s nomination. At the last minute, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., switched his vote in favor of the former Kansas congressman. Pompeo ultimately won support from all Republican senators and six Democrats, mostly those up for reelection in conservative-leaning states. He earned one more vote than his predecessor, Rex Tillerson, but still didn’t get the wide bipartisan support most other secretaries of state have enjoyed. Since the Carter administration, all other secretary of state nominees have received at least 85 Senate votes.