The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is personally trying to convince U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former Kansas congressman, to leave Trump’s cabinet and seek the Republican nomination to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Pat Roberts. The Post writes that McConnell believes Pompeo could clear the field and avert an expensive and potentially bloody primary. Pompeo’s spokesperson only said of a Senate bid that Pompeo was “focused on serving the president and keeping Americans safe as the secretary of state,” which very much doesn’t rule anything out.
However, while Pompeo isn’t saying no to a bid, it’s not clear exactly how interested he is. One unnamed top Republican expressed skepticism that he was interested in giving up his high-profile job as secretary of state to be a junior senator. However, another unidentified person who has been in contact with Pompeo told the Post that, given how dysfunctional the Trump administration is, he may want to “parachute out if things get bad.” However, the paper also says that, for once, Trump actually wants to keep a cabinet official onboard, and that he very much doesn’t want Pompeo going anywhere.
For now, Pompeo’s deliberations seem to be freezing up the field, with the Kansas City Star’s Lindsay Wise saying that it’s “causing something of a kerfuffle in the Kansas GOP as potential candidates, consultants and donors try to decide whether to jump into the 2020 race.” One prospective candidate, Kansas Chamber of Commerce head Alan Cobb, outright told the paper that he’d defer to Pompeo. The only announced GOP candidate is state Treasurer Jake LaTurner, who said only that “Mike Pompeo gets to decide what Mike Pompeo wants to do.”
It’s far from clear how long Mike Pompeo will take to decide what Mike Pompeo wants to do. Unnamed associates told the Post that he’s in no hurry to decide, while state party chair Kelly Arnold said Pompeo could wait until the June 2020 filing deadline. However, state Republican National Committeeman Mark Kahrs wants a decision long before then, saying that Pompeo “would need to make that announcement sometime this year” so the party could avoid a big primary. Kahrs adds that, until they hear from Pompeo, other Republicans will move forward with their bids.