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Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan

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

Articles by Stephen Dinan

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, walk to the chamber after collaborating on an agreement in the Senate on a two-year, almost $400 billion budget deal that would provide Pentagon and domestic programs with huge spending increases, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Budget on pace to be biggest-spending bill in history

Congress was rushing Thursday to to pass what some analysts said could be the biggest bill, by total dollar amount, in U.S. history, setting the stage for perhaps $2 trillion in new spending over the next decade. Published February 8, 2018

"We can't allow parents to get an advantage just because they brought a child here illegally and get to the head of the line," said Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota Republican. "We are trying to think ahead to where we don't allow that to become a problem." (Associated Press)

Chain migration becomes sticking point in Senate negotiations

Chain migration has become the chief sticking point in the Senate's immigration negotiations, with Democrats and some Republicans looking for ways to keep most of the current system intact while not rewarding the very parents who brought "Dreamers" to the U.S. illegally. Published February 7, 2018

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, left, and Deputy Attorney General James Cole, right, watch as Attorney General Eric Holder speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department, on Monday, May 19, 2014, in Washington. The Justice Department on Monday charged Credit Suisse AG with helping wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes through offshore accounts, and a person familiar with the matter said the European bank has agreed to pay about $2.6 billion in penalties. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Eric Holder: DOJ wrong to apologize to tea party groups for IRS scandal

Former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said the Trump administration was wrong to have apologized to tea party groups snared in the IRS's targeting scandal, saying it was another example of the new team undercutting career people at the Justice Department who'd initially cleared the IRS of wrongdoing. Published February 7, 2018

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walk to the chamber after collaborating on an agreement in the Senate on a two-year, almost $400 billion budget deal that would provide Pentagon and domestic programs with huge spending increases, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) **FILE**

Congress reaches deal to boost spending nearly $300 billion

Senate leaders reached a two-year spending deal Wednesday that would boost the budget by nearly $300 billion in 2018 and 2019, with the Pentagon's budget rising $80 billion and domestic spending by $63 billion this year alone. Published February 7, 2018

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with law enforcement officials about the MS-13 street gang and border security, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Donald Trump: ‘I’d love to see a shutdown’ unless Dems fix immigration

President Trump said Tuesday that he would "love to see a shutdown" over immigration if Democrats don't come to the table to negotiate on border security and other stiff enforcement measures, escalating the stakes with less than four weeks to go before a deadline for action. Published February 6, 2018

Two known MS-13 gang members, formerly of El Salvador, Miguel Alvarez-Flores, right, and Diego Hernandez-Rivera appear in court Thursday, March 2, 2017, in Houston. The pair, who had a Satanic shrine in their Houston apartment, are suspects in the killing of one teenager and the kidnapping of another. (Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP) **FILE**

DHS chief on gang members at the border: ‘I have to let them in’

American border officials cannot refuse to let in gang members who either sneak in or show up at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, government officials said Tuesday as they pleaded for congressional action to close loopholes gang members are exploiting. Published February 6, 2018

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., center, walks to a Republican strategy conference at the Capitol as House GOP leaders are proposing to keep the government open for another six weeks by adding a year's worth of Pentagon funding to a stopgap spending bill, in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Paul Ryan rejects immigration bills Donald Trump won’t sign

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Tuesday that he'll only allow the House to vote on an immigration bill President Trump will sign, effectively ruling out several bipartisan plans that fall short on border security. Published February 6, 2018

Sen. Richard Blumenthal D-Conn., speaks during a rally in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) outside of the Capitol, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) ** FILE **

Smuggling of illegals by Dreamers complicate immigration debate

The choppy video taken by a "concerned citizen" showed illegal immigrants in a brazen dash up a San Diego beach in broad daylight, having just taken a motorboat across the international fence and up to Torrey Pines State Beach, where they ditched the boat and ran for waiting cars -- one of them a red Pontiac Aztec. Published February 5, 2018

In this Dec. 1, 2017, file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., leaves a closed-door session where Republican senators met on the GOP effort to overhaul the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

John McCain rejoins immigration debate with broad amnesty bill

Sen. John McCain rejoined the immigration debate Monday with a generous amnesty proposal for potentially 3 million illegal immigrants in exchange for promises of future border security -- but the White House quickly rejected the plan, saying it fails President Trump's test. Published February 5, 2018

The national council that represents 7,500 employees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not withdrawing its support from President Trump, but a letter sent to the White House on Friday says the path he is taking in immigration negotiations undercuts the security promises he made on the campaign trail. (Associated Press/File)

ICE agents slam Donald Trump’s immigration plan

They endorsed President Trump during the campaign, but now the nation's deportation officers say they oppose his immigration framework, concluding that the proposed amnesty would leave "gaping holes" for a new wave of illegal immigration. Published February 4, 2018