Overnight Defense: Uncertainty for VA after Trump pick withdraws | Veterans groups hope for more input | Pompeo confirmed as secretary of State | Mattis defends Iran deal as Trump deadline nears

View in your browser     THE TOPLINE: Navy Adm. Ronny Jackson on Thursday withdrew as President Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amid mounting accusations of misconduct that raised new questions about the president's personnel decisions. In a lengthy statement, Jackson called the allegations "false and fabricated," but said he pulled out to allow Trump to move forward with a new nominee. "Unfortunately, because of how Washington works, these false allegations have become a distraction for this president and the important issue we must be addressing -- how we give the best care to our nation's heroes," he said. Jackson, the head White House physician, said he "did not expect to have to dignify baseless and anonymous attacks on my character and integrity."   Republicans lost confidence even as Trump defended choice: Trump called into the "Fox & Friends" morning show shortly after Jackson dropped out to praise him as a "highly respected" doctor who "runs a fantastic operation" at the White House. The president blamed Democrats for sinking his nomination, even though many Republicans also wanted Jackson to withdraw. "These are false accusations," Trump said. "They're trying to destroy a man. I did say, 'Welcome to Washington. Welcome to the swamp.'"   And veterans groups aren't happy with Trump: A slew of veterans said they were frustrated with Jackson throughout his nomination process, causing them to lose patience with the White House.  Various veterans groups told The Washington Examiner that the White House never reached out to them after Trump nominated Jackson.  "Nobody contacted us to discuss nominees. That's their prerogative, but we represent 2 million American veterans in every legislative district in the country. So I think we're pretty finely tuned in to how the VA works, and what veterans want," an American Legion spokesman told the outlet.    Now what: Trump said he has a replacement in mind for Jackson, but declined to say who it is. He said his next nominee has more political experience than the former combat physician. The White House said Jackson will continue to work at the White House Medical Unit, but it's not clear whether he will still serve as the president's lead physician. "Admiral Jackson is a doctor in the United States Navy assigned to the White House and is here at work today," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.   One name: A report Thursday evening said Trump is considering former Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), who once chaired the House Veterans Affairs Committee, for VA secretary. "He may have somebody in mind, but I know that an official nominee is not imminent," an official told The Washington Examiner. "It's not going to be this week, maybe not even next week."     POMPEO IS CONFIRMED: The Senate confirmed CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be secretary of State on Thursday, overcoming steep opposition to his nomination. Senators voted 57-42, well over the simple majority needed for approval by the chamber. Pompeo's confirmation was a virtual lock after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) reversed his position and said he would support Trump's pick. The announcement came amid an intense pressure campaign by the White House and spared Pompeo the dubious distinction of being the first secretary of State nominee since at least 1925 to fail to win over the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.   White House releases photos of Pompeo and Kim Jong Un: Following Pompeo's confirmation, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted photos of the new Secretary of State with Kim. "Great to have Secretary Pompeo confirmed. He will do an excellent job helping @POTUS lead our efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula," she wrote. The president had said last week that Pompeo quietly traveled to North Korea over the Easter weekend, when he was still CIA director, as part of the administration's efforts to set up a meeting between Trump and Kim. Pompeo is already on his first trip as secretary of State.   And Gina Haspel takes over at CIA: Haspel on Thursday assumed her role as acting director of the CIA after Pompeo, the agency's former director, was confirmed as secretary of state by the Senate.  While she has 33 years of experience working in the intelligence community, her critics have cited her ties to the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques after the Sept. 11 attacks.    What's next for Haspel: The Hill reported on Wednesday that the CIA will permit senators considering her nomination to review some classified information related to her undercover background following pressure from Democrats on Capitol Hill.    MATTIS DEFENDS ASPECTS OF IRAN DEAL: Defense Secretary James Mattis on Thursday praised certain parts of the Iran nuclear deal, as President Trump repeatedly bashed the multi-nation agreement this week and threatened to pull the United States out of it. Asked at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing whether the U.S. should stay in the Iran deal, Mattis would not give his opinion. He later said that the deal's provisions allow "pretty robust" oversight of what Iran is doing. "I've read it now three times ... and I will say that it is written almost with an assumption that Iran would try to cheat," he told lawmakers. "So the verification, what is in there, is actually pretty robust as far as our intrusive ability" for the International Atomic Energy Agency to check on whether Iran is complying. Mattis has said in the past that the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, isn't perfect, but that staying in it would be in America's national security interest.   DETAILS LEAK ON CLASSIFIED NIGER REPORT: A classified report on the deadly attack in Niger last fall found that disregard for the chain of command and a rush to approve a mission were contributing factors to the deaths of four U.S. soldiers, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The issues: The 6,000-page report says that low-level commanders at U.S. Africa Command, eager to hit at local militant groups, took risks to get operations approved, according to officials familiar with the report. In one case, at least one officer copied and pasted orders from a different mission into the new mission's concept of operations to get the plan approved. The report details several more missteps and described a disregard for military procedures.   GOP chairman isn't happy about leak: Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) on Thursday criticized a leak of the report's details ahead of family members being briefed. "It is deeply troubling that individuals with access to the report chose to leak details of the investigation before families of the fallen could be fully briefed. To me, that is an unconscionable breach of faith with the families of our warfighters and perhaps a violation of law." Thornberry has directed an inquiry to make sure that the leak did not come from his committee and urged his fellow chairs with access to the report to do the same.   ICYMI: -- The Hill: Senate confirms commanders for US military in Asia-Pacific, North America -- The Hill: Senators look to block F-35 delivery to Turkey over imprisoned American pastor -- The Hill: 49 senators accuse Mattis of bringing back 'don't ask, don't tell' -- The Hill: Report: Pentagon's own data contradicts recommendations on transgender troops -- The Hill: First 2019 appropriations bill advances -- The Hill: Voters back Trump's handling of Syria air strikes, North Korea: poll -- The Hill: Opinion: How Trump and Merkel can fix the Iranian nuclear deal -- The Hill: Opinion: Trump's trade policy leaves China wide open on its path to dominance -- Defense News: Mattis: New defense strategy won't work under budget caps      Please send tips and comments to Rebecca Kheel, rkheel@thehill.com, and Ellen Mitchell, emitchell@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @thehill, @Rebecca_H_K, @EllenMitchell23         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Defense Newsletters     Forward Defense Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Energy: Takeaways from Pruitt's testimony | Inside the hearing rooms | Poll finds most disapprove of Pruitt | Wisconsin refinery explodes

View in your browser     PRUITT IN THE HOUSE: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt faced two House subcommittees Thursday for more than six hours of testimony. The hearings ran the gamut, with Democrats focusing on his scandals in ethics and spending and Republicans focusing on highlighting policies they like. Here are some key takeaways.   1) Critics didn't appear to deliver a damaging blow. Pruitt headed into the hearings with mounting controversies and growing calls for him to resign. But the hearings lacked some of the expected fireworks. And Pruitt had explanations ready for most of the spending and ethical questions that lawmakers presented Thursday. "Facts are facts and fiction is fiction, A lie doesn't just become the truth because it's on the front page of a newspaper," Pruitt said in both of his opening statements to the Energy and Commerce Committee's subpanel on environment and the Appropriations Committee's subpanel on the Interior Department and EPA.   2) If lawmakers were expecting apologies or contrition from Pruitt, they were disappointed. Pruitt shifted blame on his use of first-class travel, unauthorized staff raises and construction of a soundproof privacy booth to staffers, his security detail and oversight authorities. For his frequent first-class traveling, Pruitt cited a memo from the Office of the Inspector General outlining threats against him. "I was flying coach. I made changes after the threats," he said, adding that he has since asked his security detail to let him fly coach. On the agency's decision to approve substantial raises to two EPA staffers who had moved to Washington, D.C. from Oklahoma with Pruitt -- one of whom he described at the earlier hearing as a "close friend" -- the chief said he was not aware of the type or amount of the raises. He admitted however that he was aware of the raises -- contradicting a previous statement he'd made to Fox News. Pruitt also repeatedly claimed that he was not aware of the exorbitant, nearly $43,000 cost of a privacy booth installed in his office last year. He said he did not sign off on the booth and blamed "career staffers" for being involved "from the beginning to the end."   3) Republicans focused on Pruitt's spending. GOP lawmakers raised concerns that the controversies could undercut Pruitt's work at the EPA. "I am concerned that the good progress being made on the policy front is being undercut by the allegations about your management of the agency and use of its resources," said Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of Energy and Commerce. "These issues are too persistent to ignore." They mostly focused on his allegedly exorbitant spending. But Pruitt also received support from some GOP lawmakers, who saw him as the victim of unfair criticism. "I apologize for the abrasiveness of some of my colleagues who would rather tarnish your character than really try to delve into the issues facing this great nation," said Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.).   Click here for more takeaways and our recap of the day.   And relive the hearings at our live blog.   Inside the hearing room: Protesting at Pruitt's hearings Thursday was relatively muted. The biggest protest was when a group of attendees hoisted signs up behind Pruitt labeling him "Mr. Corruption." Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), chairing the hearing, threatened to have the attendees removed if they rose with the signs again, and they complied. Some attendees were also wearing bright green "Impeach Pruitt" shirts. They were also outside when Pruitt drove to the hearing, along with a giant papier mache head meant to look like Pruitt. What's next: Pruitt's appearance was widely seen as a make-or-break moment for his tenure in Trump's Cabinet. While Democrats and environmentalists saw the hearing as a disaster for Pruitt, Trump is unlikely to see it that way. He's stood steadfast behind Pruitt up until now, and there's no indication that will change. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations subpanel with EPA authority, said she'll have Pruitt in for a hearing in May. That could provide another opportunity for Democrats to hit Pruitt over the same issues.     POLL FINDS MOST DISAPPROVE OF PRUITT: During the morning hearing, Quinnipiac University released a major poll, which included voters' approval of Pruitt. Polltakers found that 52 percent of voters disapprove of his work at the EPA, compared with just 25 percent who approve. Republicans were far more likely than Democrats to approve of Pruitt, at 51 percent to 7 percent. See the results   REFINERY EXPLODES IN WISCONSIN: There was a big explosion at an oil refinery in northwestern Wisconsin Thursday, injuring 11 and forcing a major evacuation, the Associated Press reports. A tanker car with either crude oil or asphalt exploded at the Husky Energy refinery in Superior, spurring an evacuation in a three-mile radius, and a bigger one where the smoke was blowing, AP said. Initial reports had said multiple people were killed in the explosion, but it now appears that no one died. The explosion shook a significant area in Superior and sent black smoke billowing into the sky. Read more.   OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: Trump's threats to scrap the Iran nuclear deal are spooking oil traders, Bloomberg News reports. The UK's Environment Department is hiring 1,150 new staffers to deal with Brexit, Financial Times reports. The French government plans to improve 500,000 homes to be more energy efficient each year, Reuters reports.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Thursday's stories ... -IG: Threat memo cited by Pruitt isn't from IG -Dem: Inspector general 'disputed' Pruitt's claims of death threats -EPA chief reads threats he's received to lawmakers -Pruitt: EPA lawyers said privacy booth was legal -Pruitt: EPA staff was given authority to approve raises for staffers -Protesters at hearing hoist 'Mr. Corruption' signs behind Pruitt -More than 1,000 tropical islands may become 'uninhabitable' soon due to climate change: study -Live coverage: Pruitt faces grilling in House hearings -IG investigations cast shadow over Scott Pruitt     Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@thehill.com; and Devin Henry, dhenry@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @dhenry, @thehill         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Energy Newsletters     Forward Energy Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Tech: Sparks fly as Diamond and Silk testify | EU proposes new rules for internet companies | FTC back at full strength

View in your browser     DIAMOND AND SILK GET A GRILLING: The conservative YouTube duo managed to go viral again on Thursday - this time thanks to a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill that lit up social media. Democrats clashed with pro-Trump personalities Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson -- better known as "Diamond and Silk" -- over alleged social media bias against conservatives during a House Judiciary hearing on Thursday. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, bashed the entire premise of the hearing during his remarks. "[Republicans] have prioritized this spectacle over every other kind of conversation we should be having today and we should have been having for the past year," Nadler said. The New York lawmaker said claims the YouTube personalities had been censored or discriminated against by the social media platforms didn't stand up to any scrutiny, nor did broader claims of conservative bias. "Diamond and Silk's tremendous reach and growth is evidence that they haven't been censored," he said. During their questioning, the duo fired back, charging Democrats with being biased themselves. "If the shoe was on the other foot and Mark Zuckerberg was a conservative and we were liberals, all fences and chains would have broke loose," Hardaway said. Lawmakers also questioned Hardaway and Richardson about inconsistencies during their testimony...   Trump campaign money: Diamond and Silk claimed under oath at the hearing that they were never paid for their consulting work by President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Federal campaign finance filings show otherwise. "We have never been paid by the Trump campaign," Lynette Hardaway, who goes by Diamond, told Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). Filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show that the campaign paid the duo $1,275 on Nov. 22, 2016, for "field consulting." Richardson dismissed the claim as "fake news." Trump team's response: Bradley Crate, the Trump campaign's treasurer, issued a statement Thursday afternoon chalking up the confusion to a "reasonable misunderstanding" based on semantics. "The campaign's payment to Diamond and Silk for field consulting was based on an invoice they submitted reflecting their costs for air travel to a campaign event," Crate said. "The invoice was not supported by accompanying receipts, so as a technical matter, could not be reported as a reimbursement even though its purpose was to make them whole for their out-of-pocket costs."   Were they censored? Hardaway and Richardson repeatedly claimed that they had been censored by Facebook, relaying accounts of what they claimed were otherwise-unexplained declines in their viewership numbers and anecdotes from fans who said their videos have become harder to find. Richardson also answered "yes" when asked if Diamond and Silk were "blocked" on Facebook, despite being unable to produce any record of this. Democrats were skeptical. "Diamond and Silk's tremendous reach and growth is evidence that they haven't been censored," Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, responded.   Welcome to Overnight Tech! Please send your tips, comments and condolences for the Minnesota Wolves to (abreland@thehill.com) and Harper Neidig (hneidig@thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland and @hneidig. We're also on Signal and WhatsApp. Email or DM us for our numbers.     IVANKA TALKS SKILLS TRAINING: Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner hosted a group of CEOs and senators at their home last night and discussed reauthorizing the Perkins Act, which is aimed at improving the workforce through jobs training, according to a source familiar with the event. The issue has been on the minds of many tech leaders and the source said that it was a "priority topic" for the president's daughter. Among those who attended last night's dinner were Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.). Business leaders in attendance included IBM chief Ginni Rometty, Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush and Josh Bolton, the president of the Business Roundtable.   EU PROPOSES NEW REGS FOR TECH: The European Commission put forth a proposal today to regulate how internet platforms treat businesses that rely on their services to reach consumers. The rules would require companies like Google and Facebook to lay out clearly in their terms of service how their algorithms might affect the prominence that businesses have in their feeds. "These new online market places drive growth and innovation in the EU, but we need a set of clear and basic rules to ensure a sustainable and predictable business environment," Andrus Asip, the commission's vice president for the digital market, said in a statement Thursday.   Some tech groups are already concerned about the move: "The idea of regulation directed solely at platforms is questionable," Dean Garfield, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, said in a statement. "We hope that the Commission's proposal on platform to business operations finds the right balance of allowing economic growth to continue while narrowly tailoring policy to ensure it addresses concrete concerns."   SENATE DEMS WANT TO HALT FCC MEDIA MOVES: A group of Senate Dems is calling on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to hold off on making any more moves on media ownership until the agency conducts a review of the broadcasting landscape. "When combined with the troubling trend by some broadcasters of using corporately-developed national news content as a substitute for local journalism, your recent actions risk making the 'local' in local broadcasting a thing of the past," the 22 senators wrote, referencing Sinclair Broadcast Group's "must-run" programming.   Background: Sinclair is currently awaiting FCC approval for its merger with Tribune Media, a deal that Democrats have criticized as a worrisome consolidation of media power. Dems have called on Pai to recuse himself from the Sinclair review after it was revealed that the inspector general was investigating the chairman's relationship with the company.   FTC BACK TO FULL STRENGTH: The Senate unanimously confirmed Trump's full slate of FTC nominees Thursday, bringing the agency back to full strength for the first time in more than 15 months. Republican antitrust attorney Joseph Simons will be chairing the commission. Also confirmed Thursday were two other Republicans -- Noah Phillips, an aide to Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) and Delta Air Lines executive Christine Wilson -- plus two Democrats -- Rohit Chopra, a consumer advocate and former CFPB official, and Rebecca Slaughter, an adviser to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.). The agency has been operating with just two commissioners for the past 15 months, and the one Democrat at the agency, Terrell McSweeny, was set to step down on Friday.   SPACE WEATHER: Lawmakers on Thursday held a hearing on ways to boost research on space weather, reports The Hill's Maya Lora. The House Science Subcommittees on Space and the Environment held a joint hearing with witnesses who called for more funding and resources to predict how weather conditions in space could affect Earth. The full committee chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), said space weather such as solar storms could knock satellites out of orbit, damage the electric grid and expose astronauts or those in airplanes to radiation. But Republicans grappled with the costs of addressing the problem, with Space Subcommittee Chairman Brian Babin (R-Texas) calling for private sector partnerships to expand research. "As the private sector continues to move into low-Earth orbit, more and more companies will be relying on space weather predictions to protect their assets," Babin said. "Space weather is another area of great commercial opportunity in space, and, as we have in the past, we must continue to encourage and leverage these private endeavors for the benefit of all Americans."   ON TAP: The House Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on robocalls and caller ID spoofing at 9 a.m.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: British MPs are considering using summons power to force Zuckerberg to testify if he enters the UK   Bloomberg: Facebook CTO says only verified accounts will be allowed to pay for political ads in the UK and users will be able to view all promotions paid for by a campaign CNBC: Facebook admits it did not read terms of the app that harvested data of 87 million The Ringer: Beware the data brokers DHS chief on unfilled cybersecurity positions: We're working on it         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Technology Newsletters     Forward Technology Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.