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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

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Democrats’ defense bill challenge Trump on many fronts

The new Democratic majority on the House Armed Services Committee has released its first blueprint for the nation's defense budget, a $733 billion authorization bill for the Pentagon for the coming fiscal year that blocks any funds for President Trump's border wall, puts new restrictions on the Guantanamo terrorist detainee prison, and includes no money for Mr. Trump's proposed Space Force.

June 10, 2019
In this March 20, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) **FILE**

Key House leaders eye move to block Saudi arms deal

The leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee are planning to unveil legislation to block the Trump administration from bypassing Congress to make an arms deal with Saudi Arabia through an emergency declaration.

May 24, 2019
The Pentagon would receive funding for a host of programs under the Senate Armed Services Committee's proposed defense authorization bill . (Associated Press/File)

Senate defense bill funds Space Force, pares border wall plan

Senate leaders released their first draft Thursday of a $750 billion blueprint for the Defense Department, giving President Trump a victory on the top-line spending and the establishment of a Space Force, but paring back his requests for a border wall with Mexico.

May 23, 2019
The Pentagon would receive funding for a host of programs under the Senate Armed Services Committee's proposed defense authorization bill . (Associated Press/File)

Senate panel releases wide-ranging defense authorization bill

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday unveiled a $750 billion defense budget that takes aim at funding construction projects on the U.S.-Mexico border, bans the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey, devotes more resources to military housing and addresses sexual assault in the military.

May 23, 2019
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, his back to the camera, talk during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) **FILE **

Iran uranium enrichment increased after Trump threats

Tensions between Washington and Tehran reached a new level Monday as Iranian officials said they had significantly boosted their uranium enrichment production capacity less than a day after Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and President Trump exchanged belligerent threats and jabs over Twitter.

May 20, 2019
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gestures while speaking during his and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov joint news conference following the talks in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, southern Russia, Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Pompeo's first trip to Russia starts Tuesday in Sochi, where he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are sitting down for talks and then having a joint meeting with President Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, Pool) **FILE**

Democratic chairmen question State Department on intel openness

Amid heightening tensions with Iran, top Democrats on the House national security committees are pressing the State Department over what they call "the abuse of classification and politicization of intelligence regarding Iran and other countries" included in the department's latest arms control threat assessment.

May 17, 2019
Rep. Mac Thornberry, Texas Republican and then-chairman of the Armed Services Committee, attends a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) ** FILE **

Mac Thornberry backs White House on moves to counter Iran

The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday he is "convinced" that the recent threats made by Iran warranted the Trump administration's decision to reduce the number of U.S. diplomats from Iraq and to deploy additional forces to the Middle East.

May 16, 2019
From left, National Security Adviser John Bolton, accompanied by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and President Donald Trump, speaks before Trump signs a National Security Presidential Memorandum to launch the "Women's Global Development and Prosperity" Initiative in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ** FILE **

Donald Trump on war with Iran: ‘I hope not’

President Trump said Thursday that he hopes to avoid war with Iran, as Democrats warned that the administration lacks congressional approval for military force and tensions continued to rise in the region over the president's pressure campaign against Tehran.

May 16, 2019
The U.S. Capitol Building Dome is seen through a beveled window at the Library of Congress in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Senate hearing highlights uncertainty over future of arms control pacts

Lawmakers pressed administration arms control officials on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as the fate of major nuclear treaties with Russia hang in the balance, amid mounting questions of the Trump administration's game plan for negotiating new deals to curb weapons of mass destruction and nuclear proliferation.

May 15, 2019
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., speaks with the media after a closed-door briefing for the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tuesday, March 5, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) **FILE**

Robert Menendez blasts administration for failing to consult on Iran

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee blasted the Trump administration Wednesday for failing to brief lawmakers on the decision to order all nonessential U.S. diplomatic staff to leave Iraq amid sharply escalating tensions with neighboring Iran.

May 15, 2019
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie testifies before the House Appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) ** FILE **

Lawmakers push VA secretary on sexual harassment report

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Veterans Affairs Committee is pressing Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to release information on the department's study of sexual harassment of female veterans in the VA health care system.

May 14, 2019