Here's what you need to know about the past week's happenings in D.C.:

• President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau launched a joint effort to advance women in the workplace Monday, then plunged into the thornier issue of trade in North America.

• House Republicans on Tuesday blocked an attempt by Democrats to use an obscure law to obtain Trump's tax returns from the IRS.

• National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned Monday. At issue was Flynn's contact with Moscow's ambassador to the United States. Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak appear to have discussed U.S. sanctions late last year, raising questions about whether he was freelancing on foreign policy while President Barack Obama was still in office and whether he misled Trump officials about the calls. Meanwhile, the resignation elicited a simple but persistent question Tuesday from congressional Democrats: What did President Donald Trump know and when did he know it? And Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker and other prominent Senate Republicans say it's time for Congress to take on a more exhaustive probe into Russia's alleged interference in U.S. politics and its contacts with top Trump allies.

• Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward turned down Trump's offer to become his new national security adviser, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

• The New York Times reported that U.S. agencies intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign team. Trump responded by continuing his efforts to deflect blame for the escalating scandal involving Russia, the 2016 election and his top associates, as the president seemed to suggest intelligence agencies and media outlets are in cahoots.

• In a rare display of bipartisanship, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed former wrestling entertainment executive Linda McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration as part of Trump's Cabinet.

• A bitterly divided Senate on Monday confirmed Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary despite strong objections by Democrats that the former banker ran a "foreclosure machine" when he headed OneWest Bank.

• The Republican-led Senate voted Wednesday to block an Obama-era regulation that would prevent an estimated 75,000 people with mental disorders from being able to purchase a firearm. The measure now goes to the president, who is expected to sign it.

• Andrew Puzder withdrew Wednesday as Trump's labor secretary nominee as controversy deepened over his personal life and private sector background. On Thursday, the president announced law school dean R. Alexander Acosta as his new labor secretary nominee.

• The Senate on Thursday confirmed Trump's pick to run the White House budget office, giving the Republicans' tea party wing a voice in Trump's Cabinet.

• Trump's administration said in court documents on Thursday it does not want a larger appellate panel to review a ruling keeping its travel ban on hold and will instead replace the ban.

• The president mounted an aggressive defense of his young presidency Thursday, lambasting reports that his campaign advisers had inappropriate contact with Russian officials and vowing to crack down on the leaking of classified information.

• Over the strong objections of environmental groups, the Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, giving President Donald Trump an eager partner to fulfill his campaign pledge to increase the use of planet-warming fossil fuels.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive

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