According to reports, President Donald Trump is considering replacing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo. This means, of course, that Trump would need to find a new CIA head – and Sen. Tom Cotton is in the running.
According to a report from Axios, Cotton is being considered because he is “one of the few senators with an easy relationship with Trump.” Cotton talks to Trump a few times a week, and he even planted the seed for Trump’s new Iran policy. And like Trump, Cotton is not a career politician: a double Harvard graduate, he served in the Army’s 101st Airborne, with combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, for which he earned a Bronze Star. He then worked as a consultant at McKinsey and Co. before embarking on a political career in 2012.
This is actually the second time Trump has considered Cotton for CIA head, and he was previously considered for Secretary of Defense, as well. Accoring to MSNBC and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Cotton would absolutely accept the job if offered: “This guy quit his fancy law firm to serve his country in the wake of 9/11. He does his duty when the country calls.” Furthermore, Hewitt said that Pompeo, Cotton, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and Chief of Staff John Kelly would be “a quartet of serious intellectuals and warriors in the ‘big four’ jobs.”
Given the tension between Trump and Tillerson, these could be very good moves for the Administration. Cotton in particular has expressed his willingness to work with the president: “When you’re a cabinet member, when you’re a senior adviser in the White House, and the president is right, you should help him achieve his objectives and run with his thinking.”
That kind of support is exactly what Trump needs right now.
Would you support moving Mike Pompeo and Tom Cotton into the roles of Secretary of State and CIA Director? Share your thoughts and comments below!