President Trump Hails Pompeo as “True American Patriot” at Swearing-in Ceremony

“President Trump said he has ‘no doubt’ Mike Pompeo will be making America ‘proud’ as the nation's chief diplomat during a swearing-in ceremony as secretary of state on Wednesday,” Emily Tillett reports for CBS News. Secretary of State Pompeo vowed that under his leadership, America would “deploy tough diplomacy when necessary” and “make sure America is always a respected and principled leader on the world stage.”

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Jeremy Bash, former Chief of Staff at the CIA under President Obama, writes in NBC News that “Gina Haspel is the rare CIA director nominee that both parties should love.” Bash explains his thinking: “Quite simply, she is among the most qualified people ever nominated to lead the CIA.”

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In The Wall Street Journal, Byron Tau and Nancy A. Youssef write that during Gina Haspel’s career at the CIA, she had an unexpected encounter with Mother Teresa. “In the late 1980s, during her first overseas assignment, Ms. Haspel was working weekend duty when the legendary nun and missionary sought to speak to President Ronald Reagan,” they report.

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“When President Trump signed The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law in December, it was the biggest tax overhaul in more than three decades, and it dramatically changed the landscape for many small businesses,” National Federation of Independent Business CEO Juanita D. Duggan writes in The Hill. The President has proclaimed April 29 through May 5 as Small Business Week.

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In the New York Post, Betsy McCaughey argues that Democrats’ war on ICE is a threat to public safety. “A staggering 80 percent of those apprehended in recent ICE raids in New York were either convicted criminals or charged with crimes,” she writes. “But [Democratic Gov. Andrew] Cuomo’s siding with criminals over their victims.”

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In CNN, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) write that “every American should be able to enjoy our treasured parks, but heavy traffic and aging infrastructure are taking a toll on America's system of 417 National Park Service sites.” Secretary Zinke and Sen. Alexander explain that their bipartisan proposal “would create the National Park Restoration Fund to provide mandatory funding for the maintenance backlog at our national parks.”