Pence ends filibuster on Brownback nomination

Vice President Pence broke a tie Wednesday over Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s (R) ambassador nomination, allowing Republicans to overcome a Democratic filibuster. 

Pence was called in to cast the tie-breaking vote after a move to end debate on Brownback’s nomination stalled at 49-49. 

GOP Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.), who is currently in Davos, and John McCain (Ariz.), who has been diagnosed with brain cancer, missed Wednesday’s procedural vote, forcing Republicans to rely on the vice president. 

{mosads}With Brownback overcoming the procedural hurdle, a final vote on his nomination is expected to happen this week.

Trump nominated Brownback last year to serve as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. 

Brownback, a devout Catholic, would be the fifth person to run the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom — an office first created by legislation Brownback sponsored when he was a member of the Senate back in 1998.

The Wednesday vote is Pence’s seventh tie-breaking vote as vice president.