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U.S. Senate clears Pompeo as CIA director

Xinhua, January 24, 2017 Adjust font size:

The U.S. Senate voted Monday evening to approve the nomination of Mike Pompeo as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The 100-seat chamber voted 66-32, with 14 Democrats and an independent senator voting alongside the 51 Republicans to confirm the nomination.

A simple majority is needed to confirm cabinet position nominations.

This is the third confirmation for top officials in the administration of newly-inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump, after James Mattis and John Kelly were cleared to head the Defense and Homeland Security Departments respectively.

The vote came two days after Trump visited the CIA to deliver a goodwill speech during which he lamented that Congress has been slow in confirming the agency's new chief.

Former CIA director John Brennan resigned on Friday as Trump took office.

Pompeo, 52, has served as a hardline Republican congressman from Kansas since 2011. He was an early supporter of Trump's presidential bid and a member of the Tea Party movement in Congress. Endi