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Articles by Stephen Dinan

CIA Director Mike Pompeo, picked to be the next secretary of state, listens during his introductions before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a confirmation hearing on his nomination to be Secretary of State, Thursday, April 12, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Pompeo's remarks will be the first chance for lawmakers and the public to hear directly from the former Kansas congressman about his approach to diplomacy and the role of the State Department, should he be confirmed to lead it. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Ranking Member Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., The Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds Pompeo's confirmation hearing Thursday.

Mike Pompeo says he talked with Mueller probe

Mike Pompeo said he came to his confirmation hearing Thursday prepared to talk about the Trump administration's policies and his qualifications to lead the State Department. Democrats wanted to talk about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the 2016 presidential election.

April 12, 2018
FILE- In this Feb. 13, 2018, file photo, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies before the Senate Budget Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, plans to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, April 11. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Mick Mulvaney takes heat over frosted glass on office windows

Acting consumer protection chief Mick Mulvaney on Wednesday defended the decision to put frosted glass on his office at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against accusations that it sent the wrong message about transparency.

April 11, 2018
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, talks to reporters during the daily press briefing in the Brady press briefing room at the White House, in Washington, Wednesday, April 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

DHS secretary signals she’s open to adding guest worker visas

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Congress on Wednesday she will make a decision "soon" on whether to approve tens of thousands of additional visas for temporary foreign workers, but signaled a willingness to allow more workers.

April 11, 2018
From left, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speaking, and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., right, meet with reporters following a closed-door GOP strategy session at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. The GOP-controlled House is slated Tuesday to pass a plan to keep the government open for six more weeks while Washington grapples with a potential follow-up budget pact and, perhaps, immigration legislation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Paul Ryan to retire

Speaker Paul D. Ryan announced Wednesday that he'll retire from the House at the end of this year, ending a two-decade career in Congress and igniting more soul-searching for a GOP already bracing for a rough round of midterm elections in November.

April 11, 2018
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pauses while testifying before a joint hearing of the Commerce and Judiciary Committees on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 10, 2018, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Mark Zuckerberg apologizes for Facebook abuses

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced off against senators Tuesday, acknowledging growing pains as his company went from dorm-room project to internet colossus that now faces a crisis of confidence after mishandling users' data and seeing its platform abused by Russian operatives who meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

April 10, 2018
In this file photo, travelers walk toward a currency exchange at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Monday, June 26, 2017, in Seattle. The Trump administration announced on April 10, 2018 that it was removing Chad from the controversial so-called travel ban impacting a handful of mostly majority-Muslim nations. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) (Associated Press) **FILE**

Trump updates travel ban, lifts restrictions on Chad

President Trump removed Chad from his "extreme vetting" travel ban policy Tuesday, saying the country had made enough strides in cooperating on sharing data and boosting security that its citizens can again be admitted to the U.S.

April 10, 2018
Robert Mueller. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Dems demand bill to protect Mueller after Trump comments

Democrats warned Tuesday of a "constitutional crisis" if President Trump were to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, and demanded Congress move quickly to approve legislation that would take the decision out of the president's hands.

April 10, 2018
President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, April 10, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Muslim group sues to block Trump terrorism report

Two anti-Trump organizations filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that a government report earlier this year linking immigrants to most of the country's terrorism cases since 2001 is so misleading that it violates federal law.

April 10, 2018
FILE - In this June 20, 2008, file photo, members of the 200th Red Horse Air National Guard Civil Engineering Squadron from Camp Perry in Ohio, including Tech Sgt. David Hughes, right, and Tech Sgt. William Bunker, second from right, work on building a road at the border in Nogales, Ariz. President Donald Trump said April 3, 2018, he wants to use the military to secure the U.S.-Mexico border until his promised border wall is built. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Environmental group asks appeals court block Trump wall

Environmental groups on Monday demanded a federal appeals court step in and block President Trump from building any new fencing on the southwest border, saying the administration has outstripped its legal bounds in waving dozens of laws to speed up construction.

April 9, 2018