CIA Director Mike Pompeo speaks at the FDD National Security Summit in Washington, DC, U.S., Oct. 19, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)
WASHINGTON, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The White House on Wednesday praised the performance of Mike Pompeo, the new presidential nominee for secretary of state, as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) despite the Republican Party's opposition to the nomination.
In an announcement, the White House said Pompeo, nominated by President Donald Trump on Tuesday to replace Rex Tillerson, has a "distinguished career" as the head of CIA.
It hailed Pompeo's work in confronting threats to U.S. security, working with allies around the world to stop terrorism and securing election integrity for the United States and its European partners. It also lauded his work to update the CIA's intelligence gathering process to make it "more nimble and effective."
Specifically, Pompeo was given credit for providing highly confidential information on Syria, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Iran, which played a "crucial" role in shaping the Trump administration's foreign policy.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on new Iran strategy at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Oct. 13, 2017. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)
The White House also gave a thumbs-up to Pompeo's effort to focus "much-needed public attention on non-state hostile intelligence services like WikiLeaks, which seek to obtain and disseminate America's secrets, jeopardizing our national security personnel and operations."
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks to a crowd of reporters and supporters from the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy in London, Britain, on May 19, 2017. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
Pompeo was also praised for his work with private-sector entities to harness world-class ideas and technologies, deploy more CIA officers to the field "where the enemy is operating," and strengthen information-sharing among government components on counterintelligence.
The White House said he decentralized decision-making, streamlined management within the CIA's mission centers and eliminated redundant bureaucracy.
However, Republican Senator Rand Paul said Wednesday that he would try to block Pompeo's nomination.
Paul said Pompeo's hawkish worldview, his earlier support for the Iraq War, and enhanced torture in interrogation all disqualified him for the job.
He said he would also oppose Trump's nomination of Gina Haspel to replace Pompeo, accusing her of having shown "joyful glee" during the torture of terrorism suspects.
"People complain sometimes about the filibuster; they complain about trying to obstruct. I think the debate over whether or not America is a country in favor of torture ... is an important one," Paul said. "I'm going to do everything I can to block them."
Senator John McCain, another Republican heavyweight, said Tuesday that Haspel needs to explain the "nature and extent" of her involvement in the CIA's interrogation program.
He called the torture of detainees in U.S. custody "one of the darkest chapters in American history," and urged the Senate to scrutinize her involvement in the "disgraceful program."
Paul's opposition would pose severe challenges to Pompeo's nomination, as he serves in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where the Republican Party has little advantage in terms of seats.
If the Democrats join Paul, Pompeo could receive an unfavorable committee verdict, leaving a serious black mark on the Senate's confirmation of his nomination.
The committee's head Bob Corker has said the panel will consider Pompeo's nomination as expeditiously as possible.