President Trump’s pick to lead the State Department will promise senators Thursday he’ll pick up their phone calls “on the first ring,” hoping to reassure Congress he will be responsive to them as well as to Mr. Trump.
Mike Pompeo, currently the CIA director, said if he wins the secretary’s job his top task will be using diplomacy to strip North Korea of its nuclear weapons. He’ll also work to update the nuclear deal world powers struck with Iran, will confront Russian aggression and will try to smooth relations with China.
He said when it comes to North Korea, he’s already preparing for Mr. Trump’s looming meeting with leader Kim Jong Un by reading the CIA’s files on previous failed negotiations.
“We will not repeat the mistakes of the past,” he will tell the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to excerpts of his remarks released Wednesday by the White House. “President Trump isn’t one to play games at the negotiating table— and I won’t be either.”
Mr. Pompeo will also promise to impose some sense of purpose within the country’s diplomatic corps after 15 months of turmoil at the State Department. Outgoing Secretary Rex Tillerson struggled to get on the same message as the White House, even as his employees at the department questioned where he was taking them.
“In a recent series of Department briefings with team members at State, they all, to a person, expressed a hope to be empowered in their roles, and to have a clear understanding of the President’s mission. That will be my first priority,” Mr. Pompeo says in excerpts of his statement he’ll deliver to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The White House released the excerpts Wednesday night.
Mr. Pompeo will also say department staff are demoralized by the number of vacancies — issuing an implied challenge to senators to move faster to confirm ambassadors and other top nominees.
Mr. Pompeo is a former congressman who Mr. Trump tapped to lead the CIA last year.
He will draw on that experience in trying to convince reluctant Democrats to back his nomination.
Part of his pitch will be vows of responsiveness to lawmakers who want to feel they are a part of international decision-making.
“I’ll do my best to pick up your calls on the first ring, and I’ll be a regular visitor to the Capitol,” Mr. Pompeo will say. “Your counsel and support will, if I’m confirmed, be critical to my leadership of the Department of State.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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