“Someone who has been an active participant and enthusiast for torture is not someone who should represent America,” Paul said in an interview as he left the Senate for the week on Thursday.

His colleagues aren’t so sure.

“I love Rand. But you probably shouldn’t count his vote until it’s cast,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who has worked with Paul on foreign policy matters. “He lets people make arguments right up until the last minute.”

Much as he did before Pompeo’s eventual confirmation, Paul has been digging in ahead of the floor vote on Haspel. In a POLITICO op-ed Friday, he criticized the CIA nominee for selectively releasing information about her record of harsh interrogation techniques on detainees and said “that fact alone should be enough to cause the Senate reject her nomination.”