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Lauren Toms

lmeier@washingtontimes.com

Lauren Toms is a national security reporter for The Washington Times, covering national security committees on Capitol Hill, foreign affairs, defense, and diplomacy. She began covering politics at CNN during the 2016 presidential election, working closely with the national security and justice teams, and later joined Axios as an editor specializing in international and military coverage.
Lauren holds a master's degree in U.S. law from Washington University in St. Louis school of law, and a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications from the George Washington University school of media and public affairs. She can be reached at ltoms@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Lauren Toms

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., center, flanked by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks to reporters just after the Senate advanced a bipartisan resolution asserting that President Donald Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump to be checked by Senate on war with Iran

Defying a direct appeal from President Trump, the Republican-led Senate is gearing up to take a major step aimed at reining in Mr. Trump's authority to inaugurate military action against Iran following a period of soaring tensions between Washington and Tehran.

February 12, 2020
In this photo released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, an Iranian rocket carrying a satellite is launched from Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's Semnan province, some 230 kilometers (145 miles) southeast of Tehran, Iran. The rocket failed to put the satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a program the U.S. claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)

Zafar 1, Iran satellite, launch fails

Iran failed to launch a satellite into orbit Sunday, state media reported, marking the country's latest unsuccessful attempt for a program the U.S. believes is aimed at furthering Tehran's nuclear weapons development.

February 9, 2020
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is joined at left by Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

Michael McCaul praises strike on al Qaeda leader in Yemen

Rep. Michael McCaul, the leading Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is praising a recent strike that killed the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in January in what he calls a "significant blow" to the terrorist organization.

February 7, 2020
The first light of dawn breaks looking toward the Palace of Westminster with British Union flags flying in London, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. Britain officially left the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Post-Brexit Britain, U.S. seek free trade deal

Britain, having just extricated itself from a long-term relationship with the European Union, is facing another major task in redefining its special relationship with the U.S. as the dust from Brexit settles.

February 6, 2020
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend during a tour north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Forces fighting the Islamic State group should be able to retake the IS-held cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria within the next six months, according to the top U.S. commander in Iraq. On a tour north of Baghdad Wednesday, Townsend said “within the next six months I think we’ll see both (the Mosul and Raqqa campaigns) conclude.”(AP Photo/ Ali Abdul Hassan)

U.S. military defends Africa drawdown as Chinese troops surge into continent

Military commanders on Thursday faced mounting resistance on Capitol Hill to a tentative Pentagon plan to draw down U.S. forces in Africa, with lawmakers warning that jihadi groups are a large and growing threat in the region and that China and Russia are poised to fill any security vacuum as the U.S. pulls back.

January 30, 2020
President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the White House on the ballistic missile strike that Iran launched against Iraqi air bases housing U.S. troops, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, in Washington, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, and others. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)  **FILE**

Democrats make another push to restrain Trump on Iran

House Democrats are making a renewed push to rein in President Trump's war-fighting authority in a Thursday vote to repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force and restrict taxpayer funding for a war with Iran without Congress' approval.

January 29, 2020