The Point: How Mike Pompeo became the most powerful official in Trump's Cabinet

View this email in your browser   January 8, 2020  | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski How Mike Pompeo became the most powerful official in Trump's Cabinet Mike Pompeo has been practically everywhere following the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. On the Sunday after the strike, the secretary of state appeared on all five of the major Sunday talk shows to make the administration's case. How did Pompeo become the face of the biggest foreign policy move of President Donald Trump's time in the White House? Pompeo's ascent to Trump's right-hand man would have been very hard to imagine just a few years ago. Keep in mind that Pompeo was intimately involved in convincing Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio to seriously contest the Kansas caucus in 2016 -- as part of a broader attempt to keep Trump from the Republican nomination. In making the case for Rubio to Kansas Republicans, Pompeo said that Trump would be "an authoritarian President who ignored our Constitution." Even after Rubio had dropped out of the race and it became clear that Trump was going to be the Republican nominee, Pompeo still wasn't sold.  In May 2016 he told a local Kansas paper that Trump was "not a conservative believer." On CNN that same month, Pompeo said Trump's policies "don't comport with my vision for how I represent Kansas." But later that month, Pompeo endorsed Trump for president. And he has never looked back. Nor, it's worth noting, has he ever explained what made him change his mind about Trump. Hmmmm. Just two days after Trump met Pompeo for the first time, according to The New Yorker -- a job interview at Trump Tower, of course -- he announced that the Kansas Republican would run the Central Intelligence Agency for him. Less than 18 months later, Pompeo was secretary of state. No matter how you describe it, it's very, very clear that Pompeo's status as the one indispensable member of Trump's Cabinet is dependent in large part on his willingness to acquiesce to the President's view on, well, everything. How far does Pompeo's loyalty to Trump extend? In January, Pompeo decided against running for an open Senate seat in his home state -- a race he would have entered as a massive favorite in both the Republican primary and the general election. "I've said that I'm going to stay serving as secretary of state so long as President Trump shall have me," Pompeo said explaining his decision. The Point: Walking away from a sure-thing Senate seat ain't easy. But that he did it shows just how closely Pompeo has latched his political future to President Trump.   -- Chris QUOTE OF THE DAY "Tweets aren't like they used to be." -- Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma on President Trump's tweet that served as his official notification to Congress of future military action against Iran.  THE HOUSE ACTS ON IRAN There's a vote coming soon, but it has nothing to do with clearing out the impeachment impasse.   The House is planning to vote on a war powers resolution that would restrain President Trump's military actions amid hostilities with Iran.   The resolution outlines the parameters of presidential and congressional war powers. That includes procedural requirements to make sure presidents keep Congress apprised of military decisions, as well as provisions that provide Congress with a mechanism to suspend military operations initiated by the President in certain circumstances.     Today's episode: Explaining Trump's Iran conflict off-ramp. CHRIS' GOOD READS How one New Hampshire family is spending the $12,000 Andrew Yang gave them   Elizabeth Warren is trying to re-find her mojo   Robert Caro isn't close to done   Is this the end for Tom Terrific?   The 25 most-anticipated movies of 2020 MUSICAL INTERLUDE "The Livelong Day" by Lankum was on a whole lot of "Best of 2019" music lists. Give it a listen. It will blow you away. LAUREN'S CAMPAIGN TRAIL LATEST     CNN and the Des Moines Register have named the three moderators of next week's debate in Iowa: Wolf Blitzer and Abby Phillip of CNN and Brianne Pfannenstiel of the Des Moines Register.   CNN will air the debate live on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET from the campus of Drake University in Iowa.   It'll be the final face-to-face meeting of the candidates before the Iowa caucuses in early February.   ONE BIG AD BUY $10 million The amount that the campaigns of both Trump and Michael Bloomberg expect to spend to air 60-second commercials during this year's Super Bowl. You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's The Point with Chris Cillizza newsletter. Unsubscribe from this list Check out other CNN Newsletters Share the Point Newsletter Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get The Point in your inbox. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski. You can follow Chris and Lauren on Twitter and connect with The Point on: Our mailing address is: One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303 Copyright © 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., All rights reserved.