GOP/MIKE POMPEO/STATE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Mike Pompeo won’t have his Senate confirmation hearing until Thursday [4-12-18], but the Republican National Committee has already launched a pressure campaign aimed at coaxing politically vulnerable red-state Democrats to support his nomination for secretary of state. Pompeo won votes from 15 Senate Democratic caucus members last year for his nomination to be CIA director, giving the GOP hope of winning at least a handful of Democratic votes for President Donald Trump’s bid to move him to the State Department. Pompeo will need Democratic buy-in to clear the narrowly divided Senate, given that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) plans to oppose his nomination. With an eye to swaying swing votes, the RNC plans to dispatch surrogates on TV and radio in red states where incumbent moderate Democrats previously backed Pompeo to lead CIA, according to a copy of its plans shared with POLITICO.”
-Elana Schor, “RNC pressures red-state Dems to back Pompeo,” Politico, April 11, 2018 6:38 pm