Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday he “welcomes” the Office of Inspector General's decision to hire outside law enforcement officials to review how the department handled a series of internal investigations into alleged employee misconduct.

The department is under fire after a leaked OIG memo raised concerns of political interference in at least eight cases, including a probe into whether the U.S. ambassador to Belgium solicited prostitutes. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki has called the allegation “preposterous,” but Kerry was careful to point out that they date back to his predecessor — Hillary Clinton.

“I can tell you as a former prosecutor I take very seriously a investigative process, and I am confident that the OIG’s process where he has invited outsiders to come and review whatever took place a year ago will be reviewed,” he said. “And I welcome that, I think the Department welcomes that, because we do want the highest standards applied.”

None of the parties in Syria's civil war are winning, Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged Wednesday following months of assurances by the Obama administration that Bashar Assad's days are numbered.

“I think that nobody wins in Syria the way things are going; the people lose, and Syria as a country loses,” Kerry said. “And what we have been pushing for, all of us involved in this effort, is a political solution that ends the violence, saves Syria, stops the killing and destruction of an entire nation. 

“And that’s what we’re pushing for. So it’s not a question to me whether or not the opposition can, quote, 'win.' It’s a question of whether or not we can get to this political solution.”

The Obama administration on Wednesday made it legal for Americans to sell technology and buy oil from the Syrian rebels.

The country has come under an increasing number of sanctions since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began more than two years ago. Wednesday's waivers aim to give the U.S.-backed opposition a boost as Assad's regime is gaining ground in the western part of the country.

“Through the Departments of State, Commerce, and Treasury, the Administration is taking several significant steps to ease U.S. economic sanctions, enable additional relief and reconstruction activities in opposition-controlled areas of Syria, and support the Syrian opposition and the people of Syria,” the State Department said in a statement.

Edward Snowden told the South China Morning Post the NSA has been carrying out these hacker attacks since 2009.

The Joint Chiefs chairman said the special-ops team's request to enter Benghazi was denied, but was not a stand-down order.

House lawmakers pushing for food aid reform garnered key support Wednesday as they seek to tack their priorities to the Farm Bill that's headed to the floor this week.

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and panel member Karen Bass (D-Calif.) have introduced legislation that would allow the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to buy food locally instead of having to import it from U.S. farmers. The bill has run into opposition from farm state legislators but during a hearing Wednesday received the endorsement of Dan Glickman, Agriculture secretary under President Clinton, and Andrew Natsios, USAID administrator under President George W. Bush.

“The hearing today with former secretary Glickman and Natsios obviously builds support with their endorsement of the initiative,” Royce told The Hill after the hearing. “We will take some of the suggestions [by the witnesses], incorporate them [into the bill] and that would be an underlying vehicle potentially for achieving reforms” in the Farm Bill.

The Obama administration's Benghazi scourge is helping with a new congressional probe into allegations that the State Department squashed internal investigations of employees' use of prostitutes and other misconduct.

House oversight panel chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told The Hill on Wednesday that he'll work with Foreign Affairs Committee leader Ed Royce (R-Calif.) to investigate the allegations. Royce wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday demanding to know who – if anyone – may have stopped the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) from doing its job.

“Chairman Royce and I will work together on it,” Issa told The Hill in a short hallway interview. “We will assist – that's what we're doing. We end up doing some of the particulars that are unique to our committee.”

A leaked report alleges that the State Department may have interfered in at least eight Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) cases.

Two-thirds of the Democratic freshmen in the House warned that they're against giving President Obama special powers to unilaterally negotiate trade deals. 

The comments come as the U.S. Trade Representative is negotiating a major trade deal with Pacific rim countries and is about to start trade talks with the European Union. In a letter to the top Democrat on the trade panel, Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), the 36 Democrats led by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) shared their “serious concerns” about the “extreme secrecy” surrounding the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks.

“Given the vast scope of today’s ‘trade’ agreements, we do not believe that a broad delegation of Congress’ constitutional trade authority is generally appropriate,” the letters states. “We believe it is critical that Congress maintains its authority to ensure American trade agreements are a good deal for the American people.”