WASHINGTON DC: The US Senate has confirmed Mike Pompeo as CIA director and advanced the nomination of Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state, taking key steps toward filling President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Pompeo, a Republican congressman on the House Intelligence Committee, becomes only the third member of Trump’s cabinet to take his post, as the president’s Republican Party has pushed hard to speed up confirmation of his nominees.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly were sworn in Friday, Inauguration Day. The Republican-led Senate confirmed Pompeo, a 53-year-old US Army veteran, by a vote of 66 to 32, with significant support from Democrats.