Devex: Mike Pompeo defends budget, policies in U.S. House hearings
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Capitol Hill on Wednesday was marked by a debate on his announcement of the expansion of the Mexico City policy made earlier this week. The hearings, which were meant to be about the administration’s request to cut the [FY 2020] budgets for the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, instead focused more on the United States’ role on foreign assistance. While the proposed budget cuts were rejected by lawmakers, the outlook on the implications of the Mexico City policy, or ‘global gag rule,’ were less unanimous. In the last Congress, there was a lot of bipartisanship on foreign affairs, but it seems things may be more contentious this time around — from abortion debates to more pressure on oversight — despite assurances in the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that there were continued efforts to work together…” (Saldinger, 3/28).

Reuters: U.S. lawmakers blast Trump’s plan for diplomatic, foreign aid cuts
“Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress rejected President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to diplomacy and foreign aid budgets as dangerous to national security on Wednesday, setting the stage for a budget battle with the White House. Representative Eliot Engel, Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Trump’s proposal was ‘dead’ as soon as it arrived in Congress, during the second of two House of Representatives hearings where Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took questions from lawmakers for some seven hours…” (Wroughton/Zengerle, 3/27).

Additional coverage of Secretary Pompeo’s testimony on Capitol Hill is available from The New York Times.