Current CIA chief and secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo seemed to have made a list of all of former secretary of state Rex Tillerson’s flaws and decided to assure the Senate in his opening statement that he won’t repeat them.
Tillerson alienated and demoralized career Foreign Service personnel. Pompeo promised in his opening statement that he’d be the dream boss. “In a recent series of Department briefings with team members at State … [they] shared how demoralizing it is to have so many vacancies and, frankly, not to feel relevant,” he said. “And I will work every day to provide dedicated leadership and convey my faith in their work — just as I have done with my workforce at the CIA.” In case that wasn’t clear, he added, “All of this — listening, leveraging differences, unleashing talent, teamwork — will become the fabric of a State Department culture that finds its swagger once again. We will be effective, expeditionary, diverse, and successful in fulfilling our mission.”
Tillerson gave human rights short shrift. Not Pompeo. He insisted that “if we do not lead the calls for democracy, prosperity, and human rights around the world, who will? No other nation is equipped with the same blend of power and principle.”
Too often Tillerson bristled at members of Congress and was not forthcoming about his infamous reorganization plans. Pompeo won’t make that mistake. “Should I be confirmed, the regular contact we’ve established throughout this process will continue,” he said. “I’ll do my best to pick up your calls on the first ring, and I’ll be a regular visitor to the Capitol.” (He will have an assistant to answer his calls, right?)
Pompeo has one advantage that experienced public servants have over business executives — knowing how to communicate with other politicians.
More problematic will be some of the substantive issues. Pompeo is going to work for President Trump, but in many respects he sure doesn’t sound like Trump. Pompeo asserted that Russia is “a danger to our country,” something Trump has never suggested. Pompeo suggested he is not eager to throw out the Iran nuclear deal. Instead, he wants to work with allies to fix “its most fatal flaws.” In opening remarks, Pompeo did not threaten to pull out from the Iran deal. (“If confirmed in time, I look forward to engaging key Allies on this crucial and time-sensitive topic at the G7 Ministerial Meeting on April 22nd and the NATO Ministerial Meeting later that week.”)
Likewise on North Korea, his focus was on diplomatic activity. He told the committee that “diplomatic efforts are underway to rid the world of a nuclear North Korea. There is no higher diplomatic task for the State Department team than solving this decades-in-the-making threat to our nation. … I have read the CIA histories of previous negotiations with the North Koreans, and am confident that we will not repeat the mistakes of the past.”)
In short, Pompeo will make every effort to sound reasonable, calm and professional. Unfortunately, the president is none of those things, as we have seen all too frequently. Trump’s impulsiveness, inconsistency and ignorance can upset the most carefully formulated plans. The real challenge for Pompeo will be whether he can guide and restrain the president to color within the lines of a sensible foreign-policy outline. Others have tried without much success to prevent erratic tweets and outlandish presidential outbursts from confusing friends and foes. The good news is that unlike Tillerson, Pompeo enjoys a close relationship with Trump, understands government and gets along with Congress.
Pompeo faces a rough hearing with anti-interventionists such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and harsh critics of a muscular approach to foreign policy. The real question for senators, however, is whether Pompeo is the best this president could get to work for him. If so, they’d be well advised to start building a relationship with Pompeo rather than plotting to reject him and rolling the dice with another nominee.
