President Trump Fires Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and Will Nominate Mike Pompeo as Replacement

On March 13, 2018, President Donald Trump removed Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. In an announcement on Twitter, President Trump stated that he will nominate Mike Pompeo, who has been serving as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as the 70th U.S. Secretary of State. In explaining his decision, President Trump stated that he and former Secretary Tillerson “disagreed on things, like the Iran deal.”¹

President Trump will nominate Gina Haspel as the next CIA Director.

In order to take office as Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo will have to be confirmed by the United States Senate. In January 2017, he was confirmed as CIA Director by a vote of 66-32. It seems highly likely that he will be confirmed as Secretary of State just over one year later.

The Department of State plays a major role in the U.S. immigration system in a variety of areas, including consular processing and a leading role in administering the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).

Mike Pompeo had previously staked out many positions on immigration while he was a member of Congress. Furthermore, although he did not have much direct influence over immigration policy as CIA Director, it has been reported that President Trump regularly consulted Pompeo on a variety of domestic issues. We will post a comprehensive look at Pompeo's record of statements and votes on immigration and what it may mean if and when he becomes Secretary of State in the near future.

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1. Boyer, Dave and Guy Taylor. “Trump ousts Tillerson, taps CIA Director Pompeo for State Dept.” The Washington Times. Mar. 13, 2018. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar/13/donald-trump-fires-rex-tillerson-tap-cia-director-/?1