BREAKING: Rand Paul Flips, Will Vote to Confirm Pompeo

By Grant Gambling | 5:57 PM on April 23, 2018

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RedState has been covering the controversy around the confirmation process of CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State.

The only Republican who did not vote to confirm Pompeo last year for CIA director was Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. As of this morning, he was a holdout for Secretary of State confirmation as well.

However, with the last hour Sen. Paul has changed his mind and will now vote to confirm.

Having received assurances from President Trump and Director Pompeo that he agrees with the President on these important issues, I have decided to support his nomination to be our next Secretary of State.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 23, 2018

Pragmatism has won the day and this all but seals the deal for Senator Paul, wisely.

Paul will face a heavy backlash from the very libertarian side of his base, especially those who were supporters of his father Ron Paul, but it’s good news for Republicans, both as a matter of the function of government and as the image for the party in a midterm election year.