WASHINGTON _ Kansas Republican Sam Brownback, one of the most unpopular governors in the country, is nearing the exit ramp from his controversial governorship.
A key procedural vote in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday cleared the way for his confirmation to an at-large ambassadorship for international religious freedom, based in Washington, D.C.
The vote all but ended a frustrating six-month wait for Brownback, who was nominated for the ambassadorship by President Donald Trump in July.
A final Senate vote to confirm the nomination likely could take place as early as Thursday, officially clearing the way for Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, a Johnson County surgeon, to succeed Brownback as governor.
Brownback has faced strong Democratic opposition to his nomination over his record on gay rights, so he needed near-unified Republican support Wednesday to proceed to his final confirmation vote. Republicans control 51 of the Senate's 100 seats.
His former colleagues voted 50-49 to let his nomination proceed. Vice President Mike Pence broke the tie.
"The sooner the better," Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said last week, as Brownback's nomination awaited its first floor vote. "I know that everybody in Kansas is waiting ... We ought to do this with some degree of dispatch. Hanging in the wind doesn't do anybody any good."
Once officially confirmed, Brownback will oversee the country's advocacy for religious minorities in areas of religious conflict and oppression around the globe. The position, which is based in Washington, was established in 1998.
Brownback's likely return to Washington, where he spent 16 years as a member of the U.S. House and Senate, would come after a year when the governor saw his power diminished and his signature tax cuts dismantled by the Kansas Legislature. It also would end a period of prolonged awkwardness in the Kansas Capitol, where Brownback and Colyer handled key duties.
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.
Colyer has promised to listen more to Kansans and to set a different tone, but he has so far resisted discussing specific policies.
