Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Citizenship test drops questions on freedom of press, religion
The new citizenship test, which immigrants began to use this month, no longer includes a question dealing specifically with the right to religious freedom, one of the Constitution's defining liberties. Published December 22, 2020
Congress freezes its pay in spending bill
They may not have known it, but members of Congress voted this week to freeze their own pay for another year. Published December 22, 2020
Coronavirus bill creates new Smithsonian museums for history of Latinos, women
Tucked inside the massive coronavirus relief bill Congress rushed through this week is approval for a new National Museum of the American Latino and a new women's history museum, both to be added to the Smithsonian's collection and built near the National Mall in Washington. Published December 22, 2020
Alex Padilla picked by Gavin Newsom to fill Kamala Harris Senate seat
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that he has selected Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the seat of Sen. Kamala D. Harris once she is sworn in as vice president. Published December 22, 2020
Trump policies chased immigrants off welfare: study
Immigrants have seen a "dramatic" drop in their use of welfare programs over the first three years of the Trump administration, according to a new report Tuesday that said the president's crackdown on migrants who become dependent on social services is having an effect. Published December 22, 2020
‘Defund police’ falters as Congress moves to keep money flowing
The spending bill Congress is poised to approve this week rejects calls to "defund police," and instead keeps full funding flowing to federal law enforcement agencies, the Senate's leader announced Monday. Published December 21, 2020
Border wall forces drug smugglers to turn to drones
Drone drug-smuggling has surged so much along the U.S.-Mexico border that the Border Patrol issued a stark plea last week asking residents in southwestern Arizona to step up and help them by spotting and reporting any incursions. Published December 20, 2020
House passes stopgap bill to avoid government shutdown
Congress on Friday passed a two-day extension of government funding, hoping to avert a weekend shutdown and buy more time to finish negotiations on a full-year bill. Published December 18, 2020
Democrats move to avert government shutdown
House Democrats on Friday introduced an emergency spending bill to fund the government through Sunday, looking to avert a weekend shutdown as all sides work on a broader deal. Published December 18, 2020
Frustration builds over secret coronavirus talks on Capitol Hill
Senators expressed frustration Friday over being shut out of coronavirus relief negotiations and signaled they may erect roadblocks unless they are let in on the deal-making by each party's top leaders on Capitol Hill. Published December 18, 2020
Supreme Court puts off ruling on Census count that excludes illegal immigrants
The Supreme Court ruled Friday that it's too early to decide whether President Trump can exclude illegal immigrants from the census count he will send to Congress to decide how House seats are divided up among the states over the next decade. Published December 18, 2020
Lawmakers under pressure to finish spending package or face shutdown
Lawmakers on Thursday were staring another government shutdown in the eye as they tried to wrap up negotiations on a year-end spending package that would fund the government for 2021 and also deliver another round of cash for coronavirus relief. Published December 17, 2020
Congress eyes another stopgap spending bill as talks drag on
With government money poised to run out Friday, Congress is eyeing yet another short-term stopgap bill to keep agencies' doors open while negotiators try to finalize a deal. Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the upper chamber, said the need for a stopgap bill to avoid a shutdown while negotiations finish is "looking like more of a real possibility." Published December 17, 2020
Illegal immigration from Asia rises while Mexican population falls
Illegal immigration from Asia has surged over the last decade or so, partially making up for an even bigger drop in the illegal immigrant population from Mexico, the Migration Policy Institute said Thursday. Published December 17, 2020
Robert E. Lee to be replaced by Barbara Rose Johns in Capitol Statuary Hall
Virginia's special history commission on Wednesday picked Barbara Rose Johns, a lesser-known civil rights pioneer who led an early school desegregation effort, as the figure it wants to send to Washington to replace the state's current statue of Robert E. Lee in the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol. Published December 16, 2020
Don Beyer pushes to strip Robert E. Lee name from Arlington Cemetery mansion
Congressional Democrats announced legislation Tuesday to strip Robert E. Lee's name from Arlington House -- once his own home, and now the centerpiece of the hallowed military cemetery that occupies his former plantation. Published December 15, 2020
John Poulos, Dominion CEO, says company did not switch, delete votes
Dominion Voting Systems CEO John Poulos shot down allegations that his company flipped votes away from President Trump, testifying Tuesday that any errors in vote-counting in states that used his technology were made by humans, not his product. Published December 15, 2020
Brad Raffensperger said Trump lost Georgia because he got ‘outworked’
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Tuesday that President Trump's complaints about Georgia mask the real reason he lost the state -- he and the Republican Party got "outworked" by Democrats. Published December 15, 2020
Stopping border wall would waste ‘billions of dollars’: DHS
Stopping construction on the border wall -- a key priority of the incoming Biden administration -- would waste "billions of dollars" in money already sunk into contracts to build hundreds more miles of wall, the country's border chief said Monday. Published December 14, 2020
Illegal immigrant children soaring at the border: DHS
The number of young children being snuck across the border is rising, top Homeland Security officials said Monday, blaming a recent order by a federal judge for spurring some of the new wave. Published December 14, 2020
