Washington • Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state, avoided a rare rebuke Monday as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee narrowly recommended him, but the vote served as a warning shot to the White House as nominees to lead the CIA and Veterans Affairs are hitting stiff resistance.
Pompeo, who’s now CIA director, received the panel’s approval only after Trump’s last-minute overtures to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Pompeo’s nomination now goes to the full Senate, where votes are tallying in his favor and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he looks forward to voting to confirm him later this week.