Politics Pompeo to meet Tillerson, U.S. senators on transition

© REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo FILE PHOTO: CIA Director Mike Pompeo testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, will meet with Rex Tillerson at the State Department on Monday before heading to the Capitol to start trying to win confirmation from the Senate, a U.S. official said.

It will be the first meeting between Pompeo, who is leaving his post as CIA director, and Tillerson since Trump's decision to fire the former Exxon Mobil CEO last week following a series of rifts over policy on North Korea, Russia and Iran.

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In each case, Mr. Pompeo or other department officials denied wrongdoing, and the secretary moved on unscathed. But his record is now coming under fresh scrutiny after President Trump told Congress on Friday night that he was firing the State Department inspector general — at Mr. Pompeo ’ s private

Pompeo will then head to Congress for meetings with senators ahead of his nomination hearing sometime in April. On Monday, he will meet with Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will hold his confirmation hearing.

Corker said last week that he did not know Pompeo, and might have met him only once.

Although Pompeo was backed by two-thirds of the Senate early last year when Trump nominated him to be CIA director, his confirmation this time could be more complicated. Republicans hold only a 51-49 majority in the Senate. One Republican, Senator Rand Paul, another member of the foreign relations committee, has already said he will not vote for him.

Democrats have said it is too early to predict how they will vote on Pompeo before they meet with him or hold his hearing.

Tillerson has continued to work from his office at the State Department despite being fired by Trump, who publicly announced his decision on Twitter. Tillerson, whose official departure is on March 31, handed his day-to-day responsibilities to deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who held meetings with South Korean and Japanese officials on North Korea last week.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by David Gregorio)