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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

Iraqi security forces remove concrete blast walls in Abu Nawas street in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Lawmakers appeal to Trump not to cut Iraqi aid

A bipartisan group of lawmakers are calling on the Trump administration to continue training and advising the Iraqi military and providing financial support to the country in the wake of a growing push from Iraq to remove foreign troops.

March 18, 2019
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James M. Inhofe (left), Oklahoma Republican, welcomed acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan to his first appearance on Capitol Hill since assuming the job Jan. 1. (Associated Press)

Patrick Shanahan, Joseph Dunford deny Trump ‘slush fund’

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan on Thursday defended the Pentagon's $718 billion fiscal 2020 budget request in the face of Democratic complaints that the Trump administration is setting up a slush fund to finance the president's priorities.

March 14, 2019
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan talks to media as he meets with and Qatari Minister of Defense Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, at the Pentagon, Tuesday, March 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Pentagon chief Shanahan makes pitch for Space Force

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan made a renewed push on Capitol Hill Thursday for President Trump's proposed Space Force, and defended funding for the potential sixth branch of the military.

March 14, 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 **

‘Contingency fund’ tapped to cover Donald Trump’s border wall

President Trump's bid to finance the military mission along the U.S. southern border rests in a special off-the-books Pentagon account set aside to finance for ongoing combat operations, but one that critics compare to an unregulated slush fund the administration is exploiting to circumvent federal spending caps.

March 12, 2019
Both House Republicans and Democrats had harsh words Thursday for Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro (right) and supported the international drive to force him out in favor of opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido. (ASSOCIATED PRESS photographs)

House Democrats divided over tough Venezuela policy

Already divided internally over how to handle charges of anti-Semitism in their ranks, congressional Democrats found themselves at odds over another hot-button issue as a group of liberal House Democrats called on the White House to "change course" on its tough policy against Venezuelan socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

March 7, 2019
In this Dec. 10, 2007, file photo, retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, speaks in San Francisco. Abizaid is President Donald Trump’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. If confirmed by the Senate, Abizaid would fill a key diplomatic vacancy at a time when U.S.-Saudi relations are being tested by the death of a journalist critical of the royal family in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Abizaid, who retired in 2007, is the longest serving commander of the U.S. Central Command. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

John Abizaid, Saudi Arabia ambassador pick, target of senators anger

President Trump's pick to be the next ambassador to Saudi Arabia faced a barrage of questions over the oil-rich kingdom's human rights record and the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a sometimes contentious Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.

March 6, 2019
In this July 17, 2017, file photo, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., leaves the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Jim Inhofe seeks to drive stake through Iran nuclear deal

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he will push to ensure the U.S. never rejoins the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama and repudiated last year by President Trump.

March 6, 2019
Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., speaks as U.S. Central Command Commander Gen. Joseph Votel appears before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ** FILE **

Citing Pentagon funds, Inhofe may oppose Trump wall emergency

The Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Monday he may vote against President Trump's emergency declaration unless the administration finds another way to obtain a significant portion of funding for the planned Mexican border wall.

March 4, 2019