Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said that he voted “present” during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advance Mike Pompeo’s nomination to secretary of state to the Senate floor as a courtesy to fellow Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who was unable to be present at the vote due to a friend’s funeral.
Coons explained that after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., changed his vote earlier Monday and ultimately backed Pompeo, “there was clearly an 11-10 majority on committee to report the Pompeo nomination favorably to the floor.”
“My good friend Senator Isakson had earlier today delivered the eulogy at his best friend’s funeral in Georgia and wasn’t present, but voted by proxy,” Coons said in a statement Monday evening.
“Due to a procedural rule, advancing Pompeo’s nomination to the floor required a majority of those present. After lengthy debate, it became clear Senator Isakson and the entire committee would be compelled to reconvene after 11 p.m. tonight to take that vote. In order to avoid that needless result, and at the request of Senator Isakson, I changed my vote to present, which changed the hour of the final vote but not the outcome.”
Coons on changing his vote out of respect for Isakson:“This was not an act of courage or an abandonment of principles, it was simply a courtesy to a friend who would do the same for me. I think we need more of that in the Senate, and I think we need more of that in this country.” pic.twitter.com/9JZJW8LhKc
— Andrew Desiderio (@desiderioDC) April 24, 2018
“This was not an act of courage or an abandonment of principles, it was simply a courtesy to a friend who would do the same for me,” Coons added. “I think we need more of that in the Senate, and I think we need more of that in this country.”
Coons said he still planned to vote against Pompeo when the full Senate votes on the nomination later this week.
Trump nominated Pompeo, who previously was director of the CIA, for secretary of state last month after he fired former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
