“We have made zero concessions to Chairman Kim to date, and we have no intention of doing so,” Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, during his first congressional grilling as secretary of state.
Pompeo’s trip to Capitol Hill comes as the White House is signaling doubts about its own timeline for talks with North Korea to scale back its nuclear ambitions in exchange for mitigation of sanctions. On Tuesday, Trump said there was a “substantial chance” the summit would be canceled, as it emerged that North Korean officials skipped a planning meeting in Singapore last week.
Pompeo told lawmakers Wednesday that plans were in place to hold the historic meeting on June 12, though he added: “that decision will ultimately be up to Chairman Kim.”
Pompeo assumed a similarly hard line on resuming talks with Iran, promising to “apply unprecedented financial pressure” and suggesting that economic sanctions are just one of several measures the United States will use against the regime in Tehran. To achieve a new nuclear deal, he added, Iran “simply needs to change its behavior.”
He did not back off the Trump administration’s threat to apply sanctions to European companies that do business with Iran, saying companies need to wind down operations in Iran or else face penalties, and promised lawmakers that “we will come back to you seeking further authority” for further measures to squeeze Tehran.
But the hearing turned combative as Democrats challenged Pompeo for presenting Congress with a budget for the State Department that maintains deep cuts to the diplomatic and development activities of the department — a budget that top panel Democrat Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., called “insulting” and predicted that Congress would reject.
Pompeo told lawmakers that he stood behind the administration’s $39.3 billion request for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development — over $16 billion less than was budgeted for the fiscal cycle — despite the fact that Congress roundly rejected a similar slash to the State Department coffers last year.
“I will ensure that the State Department has every dollar it needs to achieve its mission around the world … and not one dollar more,” Pompeo told lawmakers.
The comment stands in sharp contrast to the stance Pompeo took during his confirmation hearing last month, when he told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he would “take the extra dollar” if Congress offered him more money for the State Department.
Pompeo had indicated to lawmakers that he would attempt to revive the State Department after many accused his predecessor Rex Tillerson of starving it through budget cuts and hiring freezes. Pompeo said on Wednesday that “the freeze is no longer” and hinted that the administration would soon have nominees to announce to fulfill several lingering vacancies.
“I’m looking forward to getting the whole team built back,” Pompeo said.
But lawmakers expressed alarm that Pompeo doubled down defending budget cuts almost as draconian as the ones the administration had proposed under Tillerson.
“[Tillerson] said almost exactly the same thing that you said,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., told Pompeo. “I’m worried about that aspect of it.”
Pompeo also refused to give direct answers when Democrats challenged him to articulate whether the Trump Organization’s financial dealings in countries with whom the United States was locked in negotiations, or whether Trump’s apparent eagerness to help China save tech firm ZTE despite security concerns, was appropriate.
Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., asked if Pompeo would at least be willing to tell the president not to use a ZTE phone — in line with a government-wide ban on ZTE products that lawmakers are trying to impose as part of the annual defense authorization bill.
“You can’t do that for America?” Keating asked, as Pompeo said he would not comment on personal conversations with the president.
He also offered only measured assurances to Democrats charging the Trump administration had given “Russia a pass” over attempts to meddle in the U.S. political system. Pompeo said that the Trump administration would take “appropriate countermeasures” to fend off “continued efforts” by Moscow to interfere in the upcoming 2018 congressional midterms — but did not specify what those actions would be.
Pompeo also struck a tone similar to Trump when it came to NATO and Europe, echoing Trump’s increasingly ascetic posture toward U.S. allies by saying it was “time for other nations, especially those with high GDP, to assume greater responsibilities and devote greater resources toward our common objectives.”
“We expect good help, good financial support from our partners and allies,” Pompeo said.
Pompeo also had particularly harsh words for NATO member Turkey, which has come under fire for making alliances, including signing arms deals, with Russia and Iran.
“We need them to be a NATO partner … we need their behavior to reflect the objectives of NATO,” said Pompeo, who met last month with his Turkish counterpart to express frustration with Ankara’s decision to purchase a Russian surface-to-air missile system that is not compatible with NATO’s defenses.
Pompeo said Turkey needs to participate in NATO “in a way where their actions are consistent” with the alliance’s values “and not take actions that undermine its efforts.”
On Venezuela, Pompeo promised that the United States would respond “reciprocally” to the recent expulsion of the top U.S. diplomat in Caracas.
On Tuesday, the government of President Nicolás Maduro expelled Todd Robinson, the U.S. charge d’affaires, and his deputy, Brian Naranjo, accusing them of conspiring against the socialist government. On Wednesday, the State Department responded by ordering the chargé d’affaires of the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington and the deputy consul general of the consulate in Houston to leave the country within 48 hours.
Pompeo on Wednesday said the United States is watching Maduro “continue to engage in destructive behavior for the Venezuelan people.”
Pompeo returns to Capitol Hill on Thursday to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That panel’s chairman, Bob Corker, R-Tenn., has said that the hearing will also function as a chance to hear the administration’s position on new congressional efforts to pass a fresh authorization for the use of military force against extremist groups.
