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The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of Mike Pompeo's nomination for Secretary of State 11-9-1 on Monday, thanks to Sen. Rand Paul who flipped from opposing to supporting his nomination. Why it matters: At one point, it appeared that Pompeo did not have the votes for a favorable recommendation from the committee, which would have marked the first time in nearly 100 years they voted against a Secretary of State nominee. But with the endorsement in tact, Pompeo's nomination is now headed to the Senate floor for a full vote, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ensured a smooth...

Several Monday conversations with President Donald Trump, a meeting with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and reassurances about Afghanistan led Sen. Rand Paul to announce Monday evening that he would vote to support Pompeo as the next Secretary of State. Paul recounted his decision process on Twitter as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee prepared to vote on the Pompeo confirmation. The senator spoke with President Trump several times during the day and met with Pompeo. “After calling continuously for weeks for Director Pompeo to support President Trump’s belief that the Iraq war was a mistake, and that it is time to...

Good for Paul, I wasn't confident he'd change to a yes vote.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Monday that he will vote for CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be the next secretary of State, making him the second Democrat to support Pompeo's nomination. "After meeting with Mike Pompeo, discussing his foreign policy perspectives, & considering his distinguished time as CIA Director & his exemplary career in public service, I will vote to confirm Mike Pompeo to be our next Secretary of State," Manchin said in a tweet. Pompeo likely already had the votes to be confirmed by the full Senate. With Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expected to oppose him, Pompeo needed...

Marc Thiessen: Pompeo is close to confirmation and 11 senators are close to making a colossal mistakeFor the first time in the history of the republic, it appears increasingly likely that a majority of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote against the president's nominee for secretary of state. If this happens, it would be a black mark not on Mike Pompeo's record, but on the reputation of this once-storied committee. ~snip~ Last year, all 10 Democrats on the committee voted "no" to Rex Tillerson's nomination, making him the first secretary of state in history to be approved on a...

Rand Paul: Syrian Chemical Attack A False Flag Either that or Assad is ‘dumbest dictator on the planet,’ he says Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4V3jQCi8-o The chemical attack allegedly perpetrated by the Syrian government is most likely a false flag, according to Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). When asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer if stalling Russian sanctions was the right move for Trump, Paul directed the topic to whether or not the chemical attack in Syria was even genuine. “I think before you talk about sanctions, we oughta talk about what evidence is there that Russia was complicit in this attack,” Paul said on Monday....

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) challenged Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo Thursday on whether President Trump can authorize strikes on Syria without approval from Congress. Pompeo, the current CIA director and a former congressman, said at his Senate confirmation hearing that he believes the president has the authority to sign off on another attack on Bashar al-Assad's forces. He said that power of the president has not been disputed by Democrats or Republicans for an "extended" period of time. Paul disputed that, arguing the Constitution gives that power to Congress, not the executive branch. "Actually it's disputed mostly by our...

uring an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner today U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) discussed a response letter he received from FBI Director Christopher Wray. Senator Paul inquired with the FBI Director about whether reassigned FBI Agent Peter Strzok and DOJ/FBI Attorney Lisa Page still retained their Top Secret FBI clearances. According to Senator Paul, the FBI director would not respond to specific agent inquiry, however, Wray did affirm that all existing FBI officials retain Top Secret clearances. In essence, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, despite being removed from investigative authority over their role in the political efforts to...

Excerpt => PAUL: "He is looking at some kind of personal dealings with the President’s lawyer. And imagine, once they get this, they have all of the information that the President has ever discussed with the attorney and they say, 'Oh, we’re not going to use the stuff that’s attorney/client privilege.' But they’ll read it. And you think once they read it it might give them ideas of other places the look. There's this concept called parallel construction. They don’t actually use the information they read but they now have that information and can use it to go snooping in...

o $12m for Scholarships for Lebanon o $20m for Middle East Partnership Initiative Scholarship Program o $12m in military funding for Vietnam o $3.5m in nutrition assistance to Laos o $15m in Developmental assistance to China o $10m for Women LEOs in Afghanistan o $1m for the World Meteorological Organization o $218m for Promoting Democracy Development in Europe (yep..the birthplace of democracy needs promoting) o $25m for International Religious Freedom o $10m for disadvantaged Egyptian Students o $1.371bn for Contributions to International Organizations o $51m to promote International Family Planning and Reproductive Health o $7m promoting International Conservation o $10m...

@RandPaul: It’s a good thing we have Republican control of Congress or the Democrats might bust the budget caps, fund planned parenthood and Obamacare, and sneak gun control without due process into an Omni...wait, what?

The Left's romance with the Islamic Republic ensues. The Senate debated on Tuesday a resolution introduced by Vermont Socialist Bernie Sanders that would require the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Yemen. The surprising support the resolution won from 44 U.S. Senators handed a big win to Iran, which is engaged in a hot war with Saudi Arabia on the Arabian Peninsula. And it was a huge slap in the face to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who was meeting with President Trump in the White House as the Senate debated the motion on the floor. It also showed the...

Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday blasted former CIA Director John Brennan for suggesting that President Trump will be remembered as a “disgraced demagogue,” saying that Brennan spying on Americans while running the agency was disgraceful. “This man had the power to search every American’s records without a warrant,” Paul tweeted Sunday. “What’s disgraceful is attacking the Bill of Rights and the freedom of every American.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he thinks President Trump’s picks to lead the State Department and CIA will make it through the Senate, despite Sen. Rand Paul’s pledge to try and block the nominees. Mr. Graham said CIA Director Mike Pompeo will make a suitable replacement for Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, since he shares Mr. Trump’s world view — including a tough line against North Korea. “He will get confirmed,” Mr. Graham told CNN’s State of the Union. Mr. Paul, a libertarian-minded Republican from Kentucky, said he fears. Mr. Pompeo is a throwback to Republicans who...

Rand Paul launched a typically obnoxious attack on Gina Haspel today. Here is one account: “To really appoint the head cheerleader for waterboarding to be head of the CIA? How can you trust somebody who did that to be in charge of the CIA,” Paul wondered, adding, “To read of her glee during the waterboarding is just absolutely appalling.” Paul was referring to an account of a waterboarding session with suspected al Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubaydah, who was subjected to so-called enhanced interrogation techniques now widely considered to be torture. ., . The problem is that this conduct appears to...

GOP Senator Rand Paul publicly announced his total opposition to President Trump’s nominees to head the State Department and the CIA on Wednesday; saying he’s “going to do everything” he can to block them from office. According to Politico, the outspoken Senator revealed his intentions while speaking with reporters at the US Capitol, saying people “complain sometimes about the filibuster” but added he plans to use the procedural maneuver to derail the nomination process. “People complain sometimes about the filibuster, they complain about trying to obstruct… “I’m going to do everything I can to block them,” said Paul. “I’m perplexed...

While he survived a brutal and controversial Senate primary in 2014, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, citing his failing health, is resigning effective April 1. A special election will be held to finish the remainder of his term that ends in 2020. If no one gets above 50 percent, a runoff will be held. For now, Gov. Phil Bryant will appoint an interim senator to fill the vacancy until the election. Cochran’s colleague, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MI), is up for re-election this year and is facing a challenge by state Sen. Chris McDaniel. McDaniel challenged Cochran in 2014 (via NPR): I...

Is our military budget too small, or is our mission too large? Since 2001, the U.S. military budget has more than doubled in nominal terms and grown over 37% accounting for inflation. The U.S. spends more than the next eight countries combined. It’s really hard to argue that our military is underfunded, so perhaps our mission has grown too large. That mission includes being currently involved in combat operations in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Niger, Libya, and Yemen. We have troops in over 50 of 54 African countries. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost over a trillion dollars...

As Senate debates immigration reform, Kentucky senator pushes work visas instead of unqualified grants of citizenshipSen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Tuesday he’s considering offering a hard-line House immigration bill in the Senate during this week’s open debate over former President Barack Obama’s quasi-amnesty program. The debate kicked off Monday, but Paul noted Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that all of the proposals extend amnesty far more widely than the Securing America’s Future Act sponsored in the House last month by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Rep. Rául Labrador (R-Idaho), and others. Unlike the proposals discussed so far in...

PHOENIX – Sen. Rand Paul will join Dr. Kelli Ward and her supporters in a joint rally in Scottsdale later this month, according to a release. The event is being held to support Ward’s candidacy to replace Sen. Jeff Flake in Senate, who announced in October that he would retire and not seek re-election in the upcoming Republican primary. Paul’s involvement in the rally will be his latest show of support for Ward, who has also been recognized by President Donald Trump on Twitter.