Pompeo faces opposition on Senate panel

WASHINGTON – Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, is expected to face unified opposition from Democrats at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week after one still undecided Democrat announced he would vote no.

On Friday Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., joined the committee’s other Democrats, and one Republican, in saying he’ll oppose.

That means Pompeo, now the CIA director, may not have enough support for a favourable recommendation from the panel when it meets Monday. It won’t necessarily derail Pompeo’s confirmation before the full Senate. But it’s a rare rebuke of a nominee for such a high-profile cabinet position.

Coons says he is concerned that Pompeo “will embolden, rather than moderate or restrain” Trump’s “most belligerent and dangerous instincts.”