Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
House keeps on schedule despite hurricane threat
The House will still come into session this week to vote on major bills, including the first final spending bills of the year, braving the looming hurricane. Published September 11, 2018
N.Y. demands Wilbur Ross be deposed in Census citizenship question fight
President Trump's opponents asked a federal judge late Monday to order Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to sit for a sworn deposition to answer questions about why he decided to ask about citizenship on the 2020 census, saying there are key matters only he can settle. Published September 11, 2018
Lawmakers move 3 spending bills forward for House vote
Negotiators reached a deal Monday on the first three spending bills for the new fiscal year, in what lawmakers touted as the best progress in a decade on making the annual funding process work. Published September 10, 2018
Tax Reform 2.0 revealed as House Republicans move to permanently lock in last year’s cuts
House Republicans announced legislation Monday to permanently lock in last year's tax cuts, looking to remind voters of the surging economy -- and the Republicans' role in getting it there -- in the weeks before the November elections. Published September 10, 2018
HIV-positive immigrant convicted of abusing illegal immigrant kids in feds’ custody
A federal jury has convicted a legal immigrant of sexually abusing teenage illegal immigrant boys he'd been hired to care for as part of the government's massive program to deal with the surge of Unaccompanied Alien Children. Published September 10, 2018
Congress on track to pass first three spending bills weeks before deadline
Negotiators reached a deal Monday on the first three spending bills for the new fiscal year, in what lawmakers touted as the best progress in a decade on making the annual funding process work. Published September 10, 2018
48 percent of voters say Trump is ‘mentally stable’: Poll
Americans are higher on the economy than they've been in years -- but still don't much care for the job President Trump is doing, according to the latest Quinnipiac University Poll, released Monday. Published September 10, 2018
Jeff Sessions rallies immigration judges to defend country against ‘open borders’
Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a new class of immigration judges Monday they are the country's defense against open borders policies and activist lawyers trying to twist the law in favor of migrants. Published September 10, 2018
Other Eric Conn-type Social Security scams operating, whistleblowers say
The man behind the biggest Social Security fraud in American history was given another 15 years in prison last week, for a total of 27 years behind bars — but those who helped expose his con say the legal penalties shouldn't obscure the very real problems they say led to the fraud, and that remain unfixed even now. Published September 9, 2018
Democrats’ memos about delay of GOP judicial pick for affirmative action case resurface
A long-forgotten set of memos from Senate Democrats details how they sought to delay a Republican president's judicial picks in order to skew the outcome of a key affirmative action case at the behest of the NAACP. Published September 9, 2018
Assaults on ICE, Border Patrol surge as illegal immigrants get more violent
Assaults on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reached a decade high in 2017, and assaults on Border Patrol agents also have surged in recent years, according to government numbers that seem to support agents' claims that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally increasingly are looking to fight rather than flee. Published September 7, 2018
Social Security’s ‘Conn’ man gets 27 years in prison
A federal judge slapped an additional 15-year sentence on Social Security fraudster Eric C. Conn, giving him a total of 27 years in prison for his role in the largest disability con in history, and for his subsequent escape. Published September 7, 2018
Donald Trump says Barack Obama’s speech a snoozer
President Trump said he "fell asleep" trying to watch President Obama's 2018 election takedown speech Friday -- and bristled at his predecessor's claiming credit for the surging economy. Published September 7, 2018
Trump eyes shutdown, but worries it would hurt GOP in election
President Trump's favorite conservative talk show hosts may convince him to orchestrate a government shutdown. Published September 7, 2018
Trump: Doubling of China trade tariffs ‘ready to go’
President Trump said Friday that he has another $267 billion in tariffs ready to slap on China, calling his testy relationship with that nation "a far bigger problem" than dealing with Russia right now. Published September 7, 2018
Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings feature wild accusations
Over three days of hearings, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh has been accused of being an accomplice to criminal theft, of being complicit in sexual harassment and of using code words to suggest allegiance to racists. Published September 6, 2018
Deportations up 9 percent in 2018; still below Obama peak years
Immigration arrests and deportations are rising under the Trump administration, according to the latest statistics released Thursday -- though they're still far shy of the levels during the peak years of President Obama. Published September 6, 2018
Ben Sasse worries over Brett Kavanaugh’s comments on precedent
Sen. Ben Sasse said Thursday he was unsettled by Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's answers to questions about abortion precedent during his confirmation hearing this week. Published September 6, 2018
DHS proposes new rules for treatment of illegal immigrant children
The Trump administration moved Thursday to regain control of immigration detention decisions, proposing rules that would allow them to hold parents and children together in facilities until they're either deported or win their cases. Published September 6, 2018
Brett Kavanaugh declines to recuse himself from Trump cases
Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh said Wednesday that he respected Supreme Court precedents on abortion and insisted he has an open mind on whether a sitting president can be indicted. But he refused to recuse himself from any cases involving President Trump. Published September 5, 2018
