Rand Paul Votes in Favor of Pompeo, Advancing His Nomination Out of Committee and to the Floor; Joe Manchin Says He'll Vote For Him for SecState

I missed this yesterday:

Manchin's claim of intent is mentioned in the second item at PJ Media's Morning Briefing-- with Paul switching his vote from "no" to "yes," Pompeo will be voted forward out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That would probably be enough to secure his confirmation as Secretary of State, but, for added cushion, Joe Manchin, who is up for re-election and has to put on his Conservative Halloween Costume for a little while, says he'll vote for him too.

Regarding that "present" vote: It's actually kind of nice.

Why did Rand Paul change his vote? Well, he says it's because Pompeo told him he's changed his mind about Iraq and Afganhistan to agree with Trump (and, therefore, Rand Paul).

Was this just a faked-up agreement to let Paul vote for Pompeo without seeming like he was just giving up? By that I mean -- was this an arranged exit to permit Paul to gracefully step down from his position?

Maybe. But also, on the other hand...

A fellow commentator said privately that this might have been of a fake in the other direction -- it allows one influential pro-Iraq-War voice to change his opinion, apparently under duress and only in order to advance to becoming Secretary of State.

But who knows -- maybe Pompeo also needed an excuse, an "out," to declare the Iraq War was a bad decision in hindsight. Maybe this also served as a graceful exit from the pro-Iraq-War position for Pompeo, and arranged step-down for him as well.

posted by Ace of Spades at 03:33 PM

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