Pence just broke 49-49 tie to reward America’s least popular governor with Trump admin job

With a dismal 25 percent approval rating as governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback is now poised to become Trump’s at-large ambassador for international religious freedom.

Vice President Mike Pence broke a 49-49 tie in the U.S. Senate to send Brownback toward a final Senate confirmation vote that could take place as early as this evening.

With New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s departure earlier this month, Sam Brownback is officially the least popular governor in the United States. The fact that this Republican currently has a 66 percent disapproval rating in deep red Kansas is a testament to just how inept he was as the leader of his state.

Brownback employed unmitigated conservative tax reform in his state, dubbed the “march to zero.” While he hoped it would jumpstart the economy with a “shot of adrenaline,” the state instead faced a massive budget hole, a negative job growth rate, and was rebuked by his own party as Kansas lawmakers overrode his veto to end his failed tax cut experiment.

It should be noted that this “experiment” is the same that Republicans hope to enact on a national level, completely in spite of the fact that Kansas is a glaring example of its utter ineffectiveness.

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Further cause for controversy as a U.S. ambassador is Brownback’s abhorrent reputation as a religious ideologue.

Per The Kansas City Star:

Senate Democrats had objected to Brownback’s selection based partly on his decision to rescind an anti-discrimination protection for LGBT state workers during his fifth year as governor. Human Rights Campaign, a LGBT advocacy group, opposed his nomination, urging senators to vote against him.

Planned Parenthood also urged a no vote, calling Brownback an “extreme ideologue” and criticizing his record on LGBT rights and women’s health.

Of course, it is no surprise that Trump would seek to reward a politician who has proven himself so egregiously unfit for office that his own party has opted to defy him. The president is not looking to surround himself with capable politicians so much as he wants far-right extremists, yes men, and religious ideologues who will goad on his every misguided move.

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Brian Tyler Cohen

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Brian Tyler Cohen is a political writer, actor, and comedy sketch director. He graduated from Lehigh University with a dual degree in English and Business. He currently lives in Los Angeles.