Report: Secretary of State wants to run for Kansas Senate seat • Potential replacements: National Security Advisor and Treasury Secretary

• Mike Pompeo // Photo: AFP

Is Mike Pompeo en route to leaving the State Department? President Trump has already begun a search for a replacement for Secretary of State while Pompeo is considering retiring to run for the Kansas State Senate seat - the Washington Post reported this weekend.

Pompeo associates say he has yet to make a final decision, though the Secretary of State himself has already stated that he is not running for Senate and will remain in the State Department. Meanwhile, according to the report, there has been a real competition within the administration for Pompeo's successor, with President Trump himself fueling the stalemate when he recently told lawmakers and senior officials that he was "considering the options."

Pompeo has until June to decide whether he is running for Senate, and he accepts Senate Rep. Mitch McConnell's request, which he presses to run in Kansas. Republican officials say the party is worried that former Kansas Secretary of State Chris Kovac will win primaries and then lose to the Democrat in the general election, a small discriminator for Republicans in an ultra-conservative state.

Josh Rogin, the "Post" signed commentator, also claims that Pompeo is contemplating a 2024 presidential race, and McConnell insists the senator's title will help him in the race. The president, for his part, said last month that Pompeo had told him he would stay, but at the same time acknowledged that if there was a danger that Republicans would lose the Kansas Senate seat, the Secretary of State might change his mind and "register a crushing victory."

The uncertainty surrounding the issue has prompted many to start looking for candidates to network Pompeo, with Trump himself occasionally throwing in the names of potential candidates. According to the Post, the name most frequently heard is that of National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, Trump's and Pompeo's favorite. The other candidate is Finance Minister Steve Menuchin the Jew.