Impeachment intensifies buzz about Pompeo run for US Senate

John Hanna and Jonathan Lemire
Associated Press

Topeka, Kan. – A persistent buzz about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stepping down to run for an open Senate seat in Kansas has built to a roar.

It’s happening as impeachment hearings into President Donald Trump have intensified scrutiny of the State Department.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, is welcomed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after arriving for a NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.

The top U.S. diplomat was in Brussels on Wednesday. He brushed off questions about the impeachment inquiry and dismissed speculation about how long he’ll stay in Trump’s administration.

His trip came while lawmakers heard testimony from Ambassador Gordon Sondland that he kept Pompeo informed of efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden.

Strain has set in between Trump and Pompeo.

And Republicans already have speculated for months that Pompeo will resign to run for the Senate in his home state.