"Mike Pompeo, of Kansas, to be Secretary of State, vice Rex W. Tillerson," the release said on Tuesday. Pompeo’s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. Nomination hearings are likely to be scheduled in April.
Trump recently announced he was firing Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state and made his choice in favour of CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his next state secretary.
On Friday, the White House Press Secretary reported that personnel were reassured no cabinet changes would happen in the near future after Tillerson's resignation. Several experts saying that Trump is likely to push a more aggressive and confrontational policy toward Russia and Iran after the change.
Earlier, Human Rights Watch criticized Mike Pompeo's nomination due to his history of support of torture, adding that Pompeo had not denounced the government's use of the "advanced" interrogation techniques.