White House director of legislative affairs Marc Short voiced his doubts Monday morning about secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo’s chances of earning a positive recommendation from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which would be an unprecedented snub for such a high-profile cabinet position.
“I’m not giving up on the committee vote, but I think your information is well-sourced and I think that it looks iffy for this afternoon, but we still think that we’re going to get the votes when we get to the full floor of the Senate,” he told MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson.
The committee’s narrow Republican majority of 11 seats to the Democrats’ 10 was nullified when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced that he would join the Democratic bloc in their opposition.
Senate Republicans will still hold a full Senate vote this week when Pompeo will likely be confirmed due to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s (D-ND) defection to the Republican side, though without a positive recommendation from the committee and by a likely historically low margin.
Watch below:
Marc Short on Pompeo’s committee vote: “It looks iffy for this afternoon” pic.twitter.com/RexaZbyX2H
— Kate Riga (@Kate_Riga24) April 23, 2018
I don’t like folks who lie about their military history.
Disclaimer: Navy submarine officer & cold war vet. For realsies.
US Congress 101 Question: I was under the impression that if something doesn’t pass in committee, it can’t go to the floor. Am I mistaken, or is this a special circumstance, or just the usual IOKIYAR?
The committee has choices and can send it to the full Senate for a vote. McCain won’t be there to vote and Paul is a no. Mitch will need every Republican + a Dem to confirm. Heidi Heitkamp has said she will vote to confirm.
Bills have to pass through committee; for confirmations the committee makes a recommendation which can be ignored. That said, usually if the committee votes against a nominee then they withdraw because it’s a sign they’ll lose. I don’t get why Heitkamp would vote for him. It’s not like this is a major issue for SD Trumpists.
Only the best…