Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
‘Unlawful’: Judge gives Trump ultimatum to return MS-13 suspect from El Salvador
A federal judge gave the government until Monday to bring back an illegal immigrant who was wrongly deported to El Salvador, scolding the Trump administration for its "unlawful removal." Published April 4, 2025
Newsom begs foreign countries to exempt California from anti-Trump tariffs
California Gov. Gavin Newsom pleaded with foreign countries Friday to exempt California from any retaliatory tariffs they slap on U.S. goods, saying his state's businesses shouldn't suffer for President Trump's policies. Published April 4, 2025
Bad faith: Judge deciding whether to hold Trump team in contempt
A federal judge said Thursday that the Trump administration was likely acting in "bad faith" when it carried out deportations of three planeloads of migrants to El Salvador last month despite a temporary restraining order. Published April 3, 2025
States failed to spot $80 billion in erroneous pandemic payments
States have been far too eager to forgive pandemic unemployment fraud and have recovered just 4% of the money fraudsters stole, according to a government audit Thursday. Published April 3, 2025
Federal judge finds Trump’s ‘America First’ slogan is racist toward immigrants
President Trump's immigration policy, like most of his foreign policy, is saturated with references to his campaign slogan "America First" -- and a federal judge this week said it shows illegal and racist "animus" toward immigrants. Published April 3, 2025
Trump administration makes last plea to Supreme Court to allow Venezuelan gang deportations
The Trump administration made its final appeal Wednesday to the Supreme Court to block a lower judge's orders and allow President Trump to resume deporting Venezuelan gang suspects to El Salvador under a law dating back to the 1700s. Published April 2, 2025
DHS cancels ‘another gender’ option on immigration applications
Homeland Security's citizenship agency on Wednesday said it removed its "another gender" option from immigration forms, reversing a Biden policy and once again leaving applicants to pick between "male" and "female." Published April 2, 2025
Trump forced to bring back fired feds on telework
President Trump has railed against federal employees who telework, but his administration said it has been forced to allow dozens of employees to work remotely after it prematurely eliminated their offices. Published April 1, 2025
Border Patrol sets new record with low border crossings
The Border Patrol detected just 7,181 illegal immigrants attempting to sneak into the U.S. across the southern border in March, the White House border czar said Tuesday, marking the lowest monthly total in records dating back decades. Published April 1, 2025
NIH bans six Chinese labs from animal experiments with U.S. funding
The National Institutes of Health has quietly booted a Chinese lab that performed grisly experiments on beagles from its list of facilities approved for animal experiments using U.S. taxpayer money. Published April 1, 2025
House opens probe into Washington state sanctuary policies
House Republicans on Tuesday announced an investigation into sanctuary policies in Washington state, which the lawmakers portrayed as among the most egregious in the nation. Published April 1, 2025
Judge blocks Trump from ending amnesty for 350,000 migrants
A federal judge on Monday ordered Homeland Security to keep in place a deportation amnesty for 350,000 Venezuelan migrants who were about to lose their status, saying the Trump administration seemed to be acting on "negative stereotypes." Published March 31, 2025
Trump deportation order echoes Carter; review of students from Middle East sparks legal battles
A president signs an executive order sending immigration officers out to track down foreign students amid unrest in the Middle East, getting some to leave on their own and threatening to deport others. Published March 31, 2025
U.S. deports more Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador
The Department of Homeland Security carried out more deportations of migrants to El Salvador on Sunday night, ousting members of the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs whom the government identified as "violent criminals." Published March 31, 2025
No Democrats allowed: Trump takes over bipartisan commissions such as FTC, NLRB
President Trump doesn't plan to appoint any Democrats to such decision-making panels as the National Labor Relations Board and the Federal Election Commission in his second term, the Washington Times has learned. Published March 30, 2025
Trump goes on offense in courts, sues to end union protections for 1 million feds
Pummeled by a wave of legal challenges, the administration went on offense, filing its own federal lawsuit to carry out President Trump's new executive order against public sector labor unions. Published March 29, 2025
‘Charade’: Federal judge spanks Trump over attempt to wind down consumer watchdog
A federal judge delivered a nasty rebuke Friday to the White House, ordering it to stop trying to wind down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Published March 29, 2025
Judge blocks deportation of foreign student arrested for Palestinian support
A federal judge on Friday ordered the government not to report a foreign student from Turkey. Published March 28, 2025
Appeals court backs Musk, Trump in fight over shutting down USAID headquarters
A federal appeals court delivered a win to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency on Friday, ruling that shutting down the headquarters and website of the U.S. Agency for International Development could go forward. Published March 28, 2025
Appeals court allows Trump firings of Democratic appointees
President Trump's power to fire got a boost Friday when a federal appeals court hit pause on two lower court rulings that had blocked him from ousting Democratic appointees from agency boards. Published March 28, 2025
