Pompeo Swearing in
The former president of CIA, Mike Pompeo, has been voted by the US Congress last Thursday for the vacant post of the secretary of state to the US president, Donald Trump. This marked an end to the conflict going on about his nomination.
Mr. Pompeo’s post was stamped by a vote margin of 57-42. Every single Republican who attended the voting session voted for his confirmation. 7 lawmakers who have the Democratic party cast voted in the affirmative, and among them were many senators who are roped in tough re-election competitions, such as Joe Manchin representing West Virginia, Joe Donnelly from Indiana, and Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota.
When the voting session was over, the Supreme Court judge, Samuel Alito, swore in the newly-elected Pompeo, according to a spokesperson for the State Department.
The chosen nominee for the post of US ambassador to Germany, and an endorsed person by Trump whose selection has been delayed, Richard Grenell, was also approved for the job. The vote margin that stamped Grenell, who was a sometime spokesperson for the UN, was 56-42.
The newly-appointed State Secretary and a one-time Kansas lawmaker from the Republican party, Mike Pompeo, now took over Rex Tillerson’s former post, who was an executive in the oil industry that was stripped of his duty by President Trump in March.
The government under President Trump has always clamored for the Senate to verify Pompeo as the state secretary in order for him to attend a summit organized by NATO which took place last Friday.
Pompeo will have to face an endless string of urgent cases which are already laying in wait for his attention, among them is his resolution on the nuclear contract from Iran and the president’s coming meeting at North Korea with the country’s ruler, Kim Jong Un.
The press secretary for the White House, Sarah Sanders, shared some hidden images showing Pompeo in company of Kim Jong on her Twitter handle on the afternoon of Thursday. She expressed her delight at seeing Pompeo approved at last as the State Secretary. She said he will perform exceptionally well in helping out with US’ plans to stop Korea from launching its built nuclear weapons.
It would be recalled that in the beginning of March, President Trump declared via his Twitter page that Tillerson had been relieved of his duties and Pompeo had been selected to come on board as the new State Secretary, but it’s been complicated to get the House to endorse him.
Trump Clamping Back on his Opponents
Pompeo hardly missed an uncommon scolding on Monday by the Committee on Foreign Relations when an unexpected drama ensued, but after a while, he gained sufficient votes adequate for him to have favor and endorsed by the committee.
Before the voting session began, an indefinite tension had hung in the air because majority of the Democrat members who were on the committee had pitched against having him get the nomination. However, when a sign came up that opponents in the committee could vote against him, two lawmakers from Republican, Jeff Flake representing Arizona and Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky, casted their votes to support him. Notwithstanding, a Democratic senator surrendered to give way for a supportive vote.
Trump was very angry with those who were against Pompeo’s nomination, and he poured out his mind on Twitter when he called them “obstructionists.”
He tweeted on Monday saying that he found it difficult to admit the possibility of “Obstructionists” to cast their votes to stand against Pompeo as the Secretary of State. He added that the Democrats would not endorse many good individuals, not even the Grenell.
At the moment, the president has bestowed a high-ranking degree of diplomatic responsibilities on Pompeo, making him go to North Korea during the weekend of Easter to pay a visit to the country’s dictatorial ruler.
In oppository opinions, some Democrat members such as the senator from New Jersey, Bob Menendez, who is also the top member in international relations’ committee, faulted Pompeo for not being truthful and opaque on the issue of his planned meeting in North Korea.
