Senate Confirms Steven Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary

The Senate voted Monday to confirm former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as the next treasury secretary, the latest Cabinet member to be approved after a lengthy and at times contentious confirmation process. "Mr. Mnuchin has 30 years of experience working in a variety of capacities in the financial sector," said Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican.

President Trump’s Cabinet Picks Head Toward Confirmation Despite Objections

Other panels were considering Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to be attorney general and wealthy conservative activist Betsy DeVos to head the Education Department. All had strong Republican support, though final confirmation votes by the full Senate weren't yet scheduled.

Dems delay vote on Mnuchin to protest Trump order

The vote will now take place on Tuesday morning, when the committee already was scheduled to convene for a vote on the nomination of Tom Price to be the next secretary of Health and Human Services.  Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the vote was postponed so members could attend a candelight vigil planned for tonight to protest President Donald Trump's executive order banning refugees and foreign nationals from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. The delay comes one day after The Dispatch published a story reporting that despite his denials, OneWest, the company he once served as chief executive officer, repeatedly used "robo-signing."

The Time is NOW to Put Privacy Back into Intelligence Gathering

In the months following the 9-11 terror attacks, as America's intelligence agencies struggled to explain how they missed connecting the dots leading to the attacks, there began a major push both inside and outside government to ensure such a lapse never occurred again. The focal point of this push was the intelligence community's ability to access what it determined to be critical information -- emails, text messages, phone calls, and any other digital communication -- necessary for collecting and analyzing to find "suspicious" activity.

Tom Price: Stock deals ‘ethical, above board, legal and transparent’

Georgia Rep. Tom Price , Donald Trump 's pick to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, on Tuesday rejected conflict of interest and abuse of power accusations related to stock investments. Price has been criticized for actively trading in stocks for Australian pharmaceutical company Innate Immunotherapeutics during the time that he was promoting legislation that could affect the company .

Mike Pompeo sworn in as director of CIA

Mike Pompeo was sworn in Monday night as director of the CIA at a crucial time for U.S. national security as intelligence - traditionally a nonpartisan issue - has been thrust into the political arena." You are stepping up to lead the finest intelligence-gathering operation the world has ever seen," Vice President Mike Pence said during the nighttime swearing-in ceremony.

Trump blames ‘political games’ for delaying Pompeo’s confirmation as CIA director

On a visit to CIA headquarters Saturday, President Donald Trump took a shot at Democrats, saying they were playing politics with the confirmation of Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo, his choice to head the agency. An objection from three Democratic senators delayed the U.S. Senate's vote to confirm Pompeo as the CIA's new director Friday.

Senate confirms Trump’s picks for defense, homeland security

The Republican-led Senate, taking little time to fill two critical national security posts, overwhelmingly confirmed a pair of retired Marine generals tapped by President Donald Trump to run the Pentagon and secure America's borders. A little more than an hour later, Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to James Mattis to be defense secretary and John Kelly to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Senate to delay vote on Pompeo until Monday

Senate Democrats resisted entreaties from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to vote on Rep. Mike Pompeo's nomination to become CIA director late Friday, punting the vote to Monday. The move will leave the nation's top intelligence agency without a leader over the weekend because former CIA director John Brennan and his deputy David Cohen formally departed when President Obama left office Friday.

Whistleblower protections expanded to include government contractors

A bill to strengthen protections for employees who blow the whistle on fraud, waste and mismanagement in government contracts has gained congressional approval and now will head to the president's desk to be signed into law. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, permanently expands whistleblower protections to nearly all contractors and subcontractors for the federal government, except for those who work in the intelligence community.

The US Government Funds A War On Online Fake News

An anonymous reader quotes the Washington Post: Congressional negotiators on Wednesday approved an initiative to track and combat foreign propaganda amid growing concerns that Russian efforts to spread "fake news" and disinformation threaten U.S. national security. The measure, part of the National Defense Authorization Act approved by a conference committee, calls on the State Department to lead government-wide efforts to identify propaganda and counter its effects.

Wyden blasts Russian intervention during election at talk with…

Nearly 100 students at Hillsboro High School participated in the town hall-style meeting with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden on Friday, peppering him with questions, many involving the Internet and immigration. Wyden, a Democrat representing Oregon in the U.S. Congress, called the Dec. 2 town hall a 'listening session' with area students, but also took time to address an issue he brought up in Washington, D.C., in the last few weeks.

Multnomah County election: 4 questions for Sharon Meieran and Eric Zimmerman

In the race to replace Jules Bailey in District 1, emergency room doctor Sharon Meieran is battling Eric Zimmerman, chief of staff for McKeel. District 1 seat represents parts of inner east Portland and everything west of the Willamette River.

Green Collaboration With the Enemy

"But the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in caverns and forests. Lonely one, you are going the way to yourself! And your way goes past yourself, and past your seven devils! You will be a heretic to yourself and witch and soothsayer and fool and doubter and unholy one and villain.

Canadian envoy fires back against ‘inflated rhetoric’ on softwood lumber in U.S.

Canada's ambassador to the United States is firing back at a group of American senators who signed a public letter containing what he calls "inflated rhetoric" about Canadian softwood lumber. Earlier this week, 25 senators sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman that alleged Canadian lumber is subsidized, unfairly traded and has had decades worth of well-documented adverse economic impacts in the U.S. Ambassador David MacNaughton shot back Wednesday in a missive of his own to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, saying the Americans' letter contained concerning "mischaracterizations."