Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement

Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Stephen Dinan

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with lawmakers on investments in infrastructure, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Federal deficit pegged at $2.3 trillion this year: CBO

Even after the coronavirus pandemic is behind it, the federal government will run massive deficits for the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday, underscoring the deep fiscal hole facing President Biden even before his new round of COVID-19 spending. Published February 11, 2021

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., right, listens as President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with lawmakers on investments in infrastructure, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden rescinds national emergency declaration at U.S.-Mexico border

President Biden on Thursday officially informed Congress that he has revoked the previous administration's national emergency declaration for the border, recapturing Pentagon money that President Trump had diverted toward border wall construction. Published February 11, 2021

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

White House: ‘Now is not the time’ to seek asylum

The White House pleaded with would-be illegal immigrants and legitimate asylum-seekers on Wednesday to stay home, saying the U.S. doesn't have the capacity to handle them right now. Published February 10, 2021

This June 21, 2013, photo, shows the seal affixed to the front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) **FILE**

VA doctors harvested liver tissue from sick vets without consent: OSC

Doctors on a Veterans Affairs research project harvested liver tissue from sick veterans without their consent, breaking the department's own rules and placing the patients themselves "at serious risk," the government's top whistleblower watchdog agency said in a report to President Biden this week. Published February 10, 2021

National Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd says agents are on track to arrest more people this year than ever before. (Associated Press)

Joe Biden border surge prompts ‘catch-and-release’ restart in Texas

Border Patrol agents are being overwhelmed with a surge of illegal immigrants in parts of Texas and have had to restart "catch-and-release" policies, turning people loose into the U.S. as the first signs of a new migrant surge emerge under President Biden. Published February 8, 2021

Vice President Kamala Harris listens as President Joe Biden speaks about the economy in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

CBO: $15 minimum wage would lose 1.4 million jobs

Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would lift nearly 1 million people out of poverty but would leave even more people without any job at all, the Congressional Budget Office said in a new analysis Monday that deals another blow to President Biden's demand for a wage hike in the next coronavirus relief bill. Published February 8, 2021

Then-acting Deputy Secretary of the Homeland Security Department Ken Cuccinelli signed the agreements in the final weeks of the Trump administration. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Memo: Biden Homeland Security Department to cancel agreements made under Trump

The Biden Homeland Security Department has concluded that at least eight agreements signed by the Trump administration giving states a stake in federal immigration enforcement are "void, not binding and unenforceable," and is moving to cancel them as quickly as possible, according to a memo seen by The Washington Times. Published February 7, 2021

In this image from Senate TV, Vice President Kamala Harris sits in the chair on the Senate floor to cast the tie-breaking vote, her first, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 at the Capitol in Washington. The Senate early Friday approved a budget resolution that paves the way for fast-track passage of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan without support from Republicans. (Senate TV via AP)

House gives final OK to budget

House Democrats gave final approval Friday to a new federal budget for fiscal year 2021, moving with striking speed on a version that cleared the Senate just hours earlier. Published February 5, 2021

In this July 31, 2019, file photo, migrants return to Mexico, using the Puerta Mexico bridge that crosses the Rio Grande river in Matamoros, Mexico, on the border with Brownsville, Texas. A federal judge on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Emilio Espejel, File)

Memo details DHS strategy to cancel cooperation deals with states

The Biden Homeland Security Department has concluded that eight agreements signed by the Trump administration giving states and localities a stake in federal immigration enforcement are "void, not binding and unenforceable," and is moving to cancel them as quickly as possible, according to a memo seen by The Washington Times. Published February 5, 2021

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., questions former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich., as she testifies before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during a hearing to examine her nomination to be Secretary of Energy, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)

Democrats close in on $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus package despite GOP speedbumps

Senate Democrats were pushing toward approval overnight Thursday of a budget to clear the way for President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus package, but not before the GOP forced them to take tough votes on blocking illegal immigrants getting stimulus checks and making school bailout money contingent on reopening classes. Published February 4, 2021