Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Noncitizens skip the vote despite efforts to entice participation in local elections
Montpelier City Clerk John Odum chuckled when he was asked how many noncitizens had registered to vote ahead of the Vermont city's municipal elections in March -- the first time they will have the chance to cast ballots. Published January 24, 2022
Judges say Biden vaccine mandates lack congressionally approved authority
President Biden is now batting 25% in his push for vaccine mandates on American workers, after a federal judge in Texas last week shut down the White House's order requiring the federal workforce to get the shots. Published January 23, 2022
Court rules California county’s gun store shutdown order for COVID-19 was unconstitutional
The coronavirus pandemic cannot be an excuse to shut down gun stores, a federal appeals court ruled this week, delivering a belated spanking to a California county that shuttered stores and firing ranges in the early days of the virus. Published January 21, 2022
Judge halts Biden COVID vaccine mandate for federal employees
A federal judge issued an order Friday halting President Biden's order that all federal employees get the coronavirus vaccine or risk losing their jobs, saying the president overstepped the bounds of his powers. Published January 21, 2022
Federal judge blasts unvaccinated jurors as ‘selfish and unpatriotic’
A federal judge in Florida lashed out at unvaccinated potential jurors this week, calling them "selfish and unpatriotic" after he was forced to postpone a trial because he'd wanted to refuse to seat anyone who hadn't gotten a COVID-19 shot. Published January 20, 2022
Family of migrants including an infant found frozen to death at U.S.-Canada border
A family of four migrants from India were found frozen to death on the Canadian side of the border last Wednesday after getting separated from the larger group of migrants they were with. Published January 20, 2022
Supreme Court denies bid to force faster ruling on Texas abortion law
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a request from abortion clinics to speed up action on a case in lower courts challenging Texas's new law restricting abortions after about 6 weeks of pregnancy, and allowing private citizens to enforce the law by lawsuit. Published January 20, 2022
7-year-old migrant girl drowns in Rio Grande
A 7-year-old girl from Venezuela drowned Tuesday after she was swept from her mother's arms as they tried to sneak into the U.S. by crossing the Rio Grande. Published January 19, 2022
Supreme Court rebuts claims that maskless Gorsuch chased Sotomayor from the bench
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a statement Wednesday shooting down a report that she was working from home because a colleague refused to wear a mask during oral arguments. Published January 19, 2022
Tim Perry out as chief of staff at ICE
Timothy Perry is out as chief of staff at ICE amid questions over the deportation agency's plummeting arrest numbers. Published January 18, 2022
Supreme Court challenges Boston’s refusal to fly Christian flag
The attorney for Boston's government ran into a buzz saw Tuesday at the Supreme Court as the city defended its decision to block a group from flying a banner on a city hall flagpole because of the group's Christian affiliation. Published January 18, 2022
40% of guns traced from crimes in Central America came from U.S.
Thousands of firearms manufactured or bought in the U.S. end up being used in crimes in Central America, according to an audit released last week that found about half of the weapons are smuggled into the region and the others are exported legally and "diverted" into criminals' hands. Published January 17, 2022
Republicans prepare their wish list for filibuster-free Senate
Democrats may be paving an eventual path to stiffer ballot standards if they trigger the "nuclear option" to carve out a special exception to Senate filibuster rules to approve voting rights legislation. Published January 14, 2022
Supreme Court blocks Biden’s vaccine mandate on big businesses
The Supreme Court put President Biden's coronavirus vaccine mandate for large companies on hold Thursday, shutting down the policy just days after it began to take effect. Published January 13, 2022
Soaring tax revenue helping constrain federal deficit
The first three months of fiscal 2022 are in the books, and the numbers show the federal government's deficit has gone from the catastrophic levels of last year back to the merely grave situation pre-pandemic. Published January 12, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: House GOP probes historically low ICE arrests after Biden policy changes
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are probing the "historically low" rate of arrests of illegal immigrants by ICE, saying it appears the Biden administration, unwilling to abolish ICE outright, is instead paring down the agency through policy memos. Published January 12, 2022
Dems have voted for more filibusters than Republicans as power devolves into divisive partisan tool
If Sen. Charles E. Schumer were still the minority leader, it's a good bet he'd be enthusiastically using the filibuster to stop Republicans' priorities, not fighting to eliminate it. He's voted more than 500 times during his tenure in the Senate to sustain a filibuster, data from GovTrack shows. Published January 11, 2022
Visa program for illegal immigrant crime victims riddled with fraud, audit finds
Homeland Security's special visa program to grant legal status to victims of crime is plagued by fraud and mismanagement, according to an inspector general's audit released this week that found the department doesn't even know how many of the visas are issued. Published January 11, 2022
OSHA vaccine mandate takes hold as Supreme Court justices deliberate legality
America's bigger businesses are now required to know their employees' coronavirus vaccination status and should be demanding mandatory mask-wearing on those who haven't received the shots, after the Biden administration's most expansive vaccine mandate took effect Monday. Published January 10, 2022
Supreme Court justices dip into politics of COVID-19 vaccine mandates
It seems even the Supreme Court isn't immune from COVID-19 politics. Published January 10, 2022
