Secretary of State Pompeo has been privately telling Republicans he's planning to resign, but the Ukraine scandal is complicating his departure

AP/Andrew Harnik

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the State Department.

• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is apparently seeking to resign from the Trump administration ahead of a potential run for the US Senate, three senior Republicans told Time magazine.
• However, his reputation is in murky waters amid the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
• Pompeo has been known to be a loyal ally to the president. It is unclear if he has discussed his supposedly impending resignation with the president.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is apparently seeking to resign from the Trump administration ahead of a potential run for the US Senate, three senior Republicans told Time magazine.

However, his reputation is in murky waters amid the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Pompeo was one of the first top officials in the Trump administration to be subpoenaed by House Democrats, but he eventually failed to comply with their deadline back in October.

The three Republicans include "one who served in the Trump Administration, another who remains in government, and a third who served in several high-ranking posts and is active in GOP politics," Time reported. They spoke to the magazine on the condition of anonymity to discuss their private conversations with Pompeo.

The three Republicans told the magazine that Pompeo was planning to stay on as secretary of state for the next year, but the impeachment inquiry could prompt an earlier exit.

Pompeo has been known to be a loyal ally to the president, so much so that he has been described as a "a heat-seeking missile for Trump's a--" in a New Yorker article. It is unclear if he has discussed his supposedly impending resignation with the president.

"Rumors of a Pompeo Senate campaign have circulated for months, and while Pompeo has said repeatedly that he has no intention of running, he has not ruled out a race," Time reported. "Pompeo aides previously have denied he was planning to step down."

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• Mike Pompeo is the one of the most sycophantic of all Trump officials, according to a scathing profile where he is called 'a heat-seeking missile for Trump's a--'