Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
H.R. 1, Democrats’ election reform bill, is unconstitutional, ACLU says
The American Civil Liberties Union dealt a blow Monday to Democrats' new election overhaul legislation, saying the bill does too much damage to the First Amendment and the storied rights group cannot support it. Published March 4, 2019
Mitch McConnell: Democrats’ election overhaul bill won’t get Senate vote
Democrats' top priority piece of legislation to remake American elections may clear the House this week, but it won't ever get a vote in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday. Published March 4, 2019
House Dems demand access to Trump’s translator from Putin talks
House Democrats sent a letter Monday demanding the White House turn over any documents that detail communications between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- and also demanded access to the U.S. president's translator for those talks. Published March 4, 2019
Democrats pull trigger on document demands from Trump
House Democrats fired off 81 document requests to people in President Trump's orbit Monday, launching the beginnings of an effort they say is intended to spot crimes -- and could result in impeachment. Published March 4, 2019
Donald Trump steers CPAC message in new direction
Two years into the Trump presidential experiment, there's no longer any doubt that the conservative movement has been redefined by President Trump, leaving him with a fiercely loyal base of support as he prepares for a 2020 re-election campaign in perhaps the most hostile environment in modern political history. Published March 3, 2019
CPAC straw poll: Biden biggest threat to Trump
Conservatives view former Vice President Joseph R. Biden as the "biggest threat" to President Trump in the 2020 election, according to Saturday's Washington Times/CPAC straw poll. Sens. Bernard Sanders and Kamala Harris were a distant second and third. Published March 2, 2019
Ronald DeRisi pleads guilty to death threats during Kavanaugh confirmation
A New York man pleaded guilty Thursday to making death threats against two senators for supporting Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh's confirmation last year. Published February 28, 2019
Feds rescue 67 illegal immigrants from ‘deplorable’ stash house in New Mexico
ICE agents and officers rescued 67 illegal immigrants, including six unaccompanied children, from "deplorable conditions" in a small trailer in New Mexico earlier this week. Published February 28, 2019
Average tax refund jumps to $3,100, dents Democrat claims of tax cut trickery
The average tax refund so far this filing season is more than $3,100, the Treasury Department reported Thursday, putting things on track and denting Democrats' claims that the 2017 tax cuts were actually hurting Americans' wallets. Published February 28, 2019
Lamar Alexander to Trump: Rethink border emergency declaration
An influential Republican senator urged President Trump on Thursday to rethink his border emergency declaration and come up with other money he can use to build his border wall. Published February 28, 2019
House Dems ponder rules change as party unity crumbles
Stung by ongoing defections on some key votes, House Democrats are pondering a quick rules change that would limit the GOP's chances to offer its own amendments to bills -- a move the top Republican said would amount to "a nuclear option." Published February 28, 2019
Debbie Dingell reveals mentally ill father in fiery gun control speech
Rep. Debbie Dingell told colleagues Thursday her father had a mental illness and a gun -- and said the combination made her fear for her life when she was a child. Published February 28, 2019
Chuck Schumer praises Donald Trump for ditching North Korea talks
President Trump's decision to walk away from a bad nuclear deal with North Korea won exceptional praise from Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, who said Thursday the president deserves credit for being willing to forgo a weak agreement. Published February 28, 2019
Aryan Brotherhood, Mexican cartels smuggling illegal immigrants into U.S.
Some members of the Aryan Brotherhood, a ferociously violent prison and street gang founded on a white supremacist ideology, are now apparently in cahoots with Mexican smuggling cartels to make money off bringing illegal immigrants into the U.S. Published February 27, 2019
‘Confucius Institutes’ on U.S. campuses spur Senate investigation
China has invested more than $150 million over the last decade to establish propaganda-spewing Confucius Institutes at American colleges and universities, using the ostensible cultural centers as a tool to stifle debate in the U.S. about the communist regime's policies, according to a new Senate investigative report Wednesday. Published February 27, 2019
House votes to notify ICE when illegal immigrants try to buy guns
Republicans scored a rare victory in the Democrat-controlled House Wednesday, winning a vote to have authorities notify deportation officers any time an illegal immigrant tries to buy a gun. Published February 27, 2019
Trump wall prototypes torn down
The prototypes built as part of President Trump's border wall competition were torn down Wednesday after officials said they had served their purpose and were standing in the way of building a new section of actual border fencing. Published February 27, 2019
Asylum-seekers caught trying to smuggle illegal immigrants
Two Central Americans who claimed to need asylum in the U.S. were caught trying to smuggle a relative into the country this week, federal authorities said Tuesday. Published February 26, 2019
Supreme Court ‘Peace Cross’ case tackles religious freedom debate
The Bladensburg Peace Cross, which today stands on public parkland at the center of two major roads in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, is at the center of a raging national controversy over the limits of public memorials, religious freedom, the separation of church and state -- and who wins and loses in debates over tolerance. Published February 26, 2019
House votes to overturn Trump emergency declaration
The House delivered a searing rebuke Tuesday to President Trump, voting to overturn his border emergency wall building declaration in a floor showdown Democrats said was nothing short of a historic stand against tyranny. Published February 26, 2019