Panel approves Pompeo for secretary of state

 The Latest on the nomination of Mike Pompeo as secretary of state (all times local):

In this April 12, 2018, photo CIA Director Mike Pompeo testifies on his nomination to be the next secretary of state on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

6:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump's choice for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a favorable recommendation, narrowly avoiding a rare rebuke as his confirmation heads to the full Senate.

Democrats put up stiff resistance and voted against Pompeo, who is now the CIA director. Only a last-minute switch from Kentucky Republican Rand Paul — whom Trump called before the vote — enabled Pompeo to win committee approval.

It would have been the first time since the committee starting keeping records in 1925 that a secretary of state nominee faced an unfavorable report.

Pompeo's nomination now goes to the full Senate, where votes are tallying in his favor. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he looks forward to voting to confirm Pompeo this week.

5:25 p.m.

Sen. Rand Paul says he now supports Mike Pompeo as secretary of state.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the sole Republican who had earlier opposed President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, tells the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he is changing his vote to yes, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, April 23, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Kentucky Republican announced his position after talking with President Donald Trump moments before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was set to consider the nominee. Pompeo hasn't had sufficient support from the panel for a favorable recommendation, but Paul's support could change that outcome.

Paul says on Twitter that after talking with Trump and meeting with the nominee he received assurances that Pompeo believes the Iraq war "was a mistake, that regime change has destabilized the region, and that we must end our involvement with Afghanistan."

With those assurances, the senator says he has "decided to support his nomination to be our next secretary of state."

3:40 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's looking forward to voting to confirm President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, later this week in the Senate.

McConnell is making the upbeat assessment after two more Democratic senators announced support for Pompeo, now the CIA director, despite steep opposition expected Monday evening at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The panel is unlikely to have the votes to give a favorable recommendation, but the nominee is expected to find wider support in the full Senate.

McConnell says that with Pompeo, "the United States will have a chief diplomat who enjoys the total confidence of the president."

The Republican leader says he looks "forward to upholding the tradition of this body and voting to confirm him this week."

1:30 p.m.

Mike Pompeo's nomination for secretary of state has received a boost because two Democratic senators announced they would support his confirmation before the full Senate.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the ranking member, right, oversee the confirmation vote on President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, who has faced considerable opposition before the panel, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, April 23, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana both backed Pompeo when he was confirmed as CIA director. But other Democrats have been peeling away, and Pompeo is not likely to have enough support Monday for a favorable recommendation from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Neither Manchin nor Donnelly is on the panel, but their votes will help push Pompeo's nomination before the full Senate vote expected later this week.

Manchin says "during this sensitive diplomatic time, it's important our next secretary of state understands the grave threats facing our nation and can offer diplomatic solutions to avoid conflict, as soon as possible."

9:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump is attacking Democrats as he seeks Senate confirmation of Mike Pompeo as secretary of State.

Trump says on Twitter Monday: "Hard to believe Obstructionists May vote against Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State. The Dems will not approve hundreds of good people, including the Ambassador to Germany. They are maxing out the time on approval process for all, never happened before. Need more Republicans!"

President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Pompeo's nomination faces serious opposition from key Democrats and at least one Republican. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee may not have enough votes to recommend him for confirmation.

The full Senate is still expected to consider Pompeo's nomination later this week. But the rebuke from the panel would be the first time in years a nominee for the position did not receive a favorable vote.

President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, is facing serious opposition before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The panel may not have enough votes to recommend him for confirmation Monday as all Democrats, and at least one Republican, have said they will oppose him.

The full Senate is still expected to consider Pompeo's nomination later this week. But the rare rebuke from the panel, even after Pompeo's recent visit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, would be the first time in years a nominee for the high-level Cabinet position did not receive a favorable vote.

The chairman of the committee, Republican Sen. Bob Corker, blames partisan politics for opposition to Pompeo, saying the CIA chief is just as qualified as past nominees for secretary of state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he would sign an order instructing the Homeland Security secretary to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents, while senators worked into early Friday to approve a funding package in hopes of ending a budget impasse that has jammed airports, disrupted travel and imposed financial hardship on workers.

The deal, which the Senate approved unanimously early in the morning without a roll call, would fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, except the immigration enforcement operations that have been central to the standoff. It did not include any of the restraints Democrats demanded as they sought to rein in Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

It next goes to the House, which is expected to consider it Friday.

“We can get at least a lot of the government opened up again and then we’ll go from there,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “Obviously, we’ll still have some work ahead of us.”

But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the deal could have been reached weeks ago, and vowed that his party would continue fighting to ensure Trump's immigration enforcement operation “does not get more funding without serious reform.”

With pressure mounting to resolve the 42-day stalemate over Homeland Security funding, the endgame emerged in the final hours before TSA workers miss another paycheck Friday. Trump announced his decision in a social media post saying he wanted to quickly stop the “Chaos at the Airports.”

The White House had floated the extraordinary move of invoking a national emergency to pay the TSA agents, a politically and legally fraught approach. Instead, Trump’s order will pay TSA agents using money from his 2025 tax bill, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly.

At the same time, senators worked through the night on the package that would fund much of the rest of the department, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard, but without funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection.

The funding shutdown has resulted in travel delays and even warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing paychecks stop coming to work.

Multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers and nearly 500 of its nearly 50,000 transportation security officers have quit during the shutdown. Nationwide on Wednesday, more than 11% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, according to DHS. That is more than 3,120 callouts.

Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the union is grateful the TSA workers will be paid, but said Congress must stay in session to pass a deal “that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running.”

At George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Melissa Gates said she would not make her flight to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after waiting more than 2½ hours and still not reaching the security checkpoint. She said no other flights were available until Friday.

“I should have just driven, right?” Gates said. “Five hours would have been hilarious next to this.”

Earlier Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., announced he had given a “last and final” offer to the Democrats.

Thune did not disclose details of the new framework, but he said it picked up from a previous offer over the weekend, before talks with the White House and Democrats had broken off.

“Enough is enough,” he said.

But as senators retreated to privately discuss the new plan, action stalled out.

Democrats argued the GOP proposals have not gone far enough at putting guardrails on officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies who are engaged in the immigration sweeps, particularly after the deaths of two Americans protesting the actions in Minneapolis.

They want federal agents to wear identification, remove their face masks and refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places. Democrats have also pushed for an end of administrative warrants, insisting that judges sign off before agents search people's homes or private spaces — something new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said he is open to considering, but senators want to see in writing.

Trump had largely left the issue to Congress, but warned he was ready to take action, threatening to send the National Guard to airports in addition to his deployment of ICE agents who are now checking travelers’ IDs.

“They need to end this shutdown immediately or we’ll have to take drastic measures,” Trump said during a Thursday morning Cabinet meeting.

The GOP’s big tax cuts bill that Trump signed into law last year funneled billions to DHS, including $75 billion for ICE operations, ensuring the immigration officers are still being paid during the shutdown.

Any deal almost certainly needs to involve a compromise as lawmakers on the left and right flanks revolt. Conservative Republicans have panned their own party's proposals, demanding full funding for immigration operations.

Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti, Kevin Freking, Rebecca Santana, Collin Binkley and Ben Finley in Washington, Lekan Oyekanmi in Houston, Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York, Rio Yamat in Las Vegas, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, and Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego contributed to this report.

Travelers line up at a TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)

Passengers stand in the TSA pre-check line at LaGuardia Airport, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

Prior to votes, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., makes a statement to a forum on climate change and the consequences for home insurance, grocery prices, and health care costs, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is met by reporters after a closed door meeting with fellow Republicans on the Homeland Security budget stalemate, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Travelers line up at a TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)