Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Trump border wall prototypes completed
Construction has concluded on the eight prototypes of President Trump's border wall, the government announced Thursday. Published October 26, 2017
Paul Ryan says no decision on DACA; refutes report that he’ll attach Dreamers to spending bill
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Thursday that he hasn't promised a solution to a replacement for the Obama-era DACA program as part of the year-end spending bill, pushing back on reports he'd said a legalization for Dreamers would be part of the must-pass bill. Published October 26, 2017
Paul Ryan jokes Trump will be out of town when GOP unveils tax plan
House Republicans plan to unveil their full tax overhaul outline next week and Speaker Paul D. Ryan joked Thursday that it was good President Trump will be out of town. Published October 26, 2017
Feds to pay ‘generous’ settlement to tea party groups for targeting
The government apologized Thursday for illegally targeting tea party groups for intrusive scrutiny and agreed to settlements with hundreds of organizations snared in the targeting, bringing to a close one of the more embarrassing episodes of the Obama administration. Published October 26, 2017
Trump administration apologizes for IRS tea party targeting, faults Lois Lerner
The IRS admitted in court Wednesday that it wrongly targeted tea party and other conservative groups for intrusive scrutiny, placing specific blame on former senior executive Lois G. Lerner, and entered into a settlement designed to make sure that kind of political targeting never takes place again. Published October 25, 2017
DHS nixes protections for Jessica Colotl; a target for deportation
The Trump administration has refused to renew the DACA status of a prominent illegal immigrant "Dreamer," saying she's now a priority for deportation in a case that has become a key test of the Obama-era deportation amnesty and the new president's handling of it. Published October 25, 2017
IRS email points to political affiliation in tea party targeting scandal
Lawyers think they have finally found the smoking gun in the IRS's tea party targeting scandal: an email from an IRS agent to her supervisors alerting them that the agency was, in fact, singling out some groups' applications for extreme scrutiny "primarily because of their political party affiliation." Published October 25, 2017
Jeff Flake’s book sales soar in wake of Trump takedown
It remains to be seen how Sen. Jeff Flake's political self-immolation Tuesday plays out on Capitol Hill, but it has been good for his career as an author. Published October 25, 2017
Senate overturns anti-arbitration rule by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
With Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote, the Senate late Tuesday approved a rollback of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule that would have prohibited companies from forcing customers into arbitration, rather than class-action lawsuits. Published October 24, 2017
Guest-worker program for high-skilled foreigners is ripe for fraud, IG says
The country's top guest-worker program for high-skilled foreigners is ripe for fraud, with companies deemed to have broken the terms of the visas in the past still approved for new permits anyway, the Homeland Security inspector general said Tuesday. Published October 24, 2017
Donald Trump signs new order restricting refugees from 11 countries
President Trump imposed new restrictions on refugees from 11 "high risk" target countries Tuesday, reportedly all but one being mostly Muslim, saying they pose too much of a danger to be admitted without a compelling national interest. Published October 24, 2017
Jeff Flake won’t seek re-election, says GOP has changed too much
Sen. Jeff Flake said Tuesday he won't run for re-election next year, complaining that he'd been pushed out by the "coarseness" of President Trump and saying there's no room someone like him in the GOP in Washington anymore. Published October 24, 2017
Supreme Court drops Trump travel ban case
The Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday dismissing Hawaii's challenge to President Trump's refugee policy, as encapsulated in his earlier "extreme vetting" executive order, saying the case is moot because the 120-day refugee pause has now expired. Published October 24, 2017
Top border official says illegal immigration at 45-year low
The acting chief of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday that illegal immigration across the southwest border will be at a 45-year when final 2017 numbers are fully tallied, and he credited President Trump with the success. Published October 24, 2017
Ryan on Trump-Corker Twitter feud: ‘Forget about it’
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan pleaded with reporters Tuesday to stop focusing on President Trump's Twitter feud with Sen. Bob Corker and instead cover the GOP's attempts at tax reform. Published October 24, 2017
Terror from skies as Mexican cartel attaches bomb to drone
Mexican police discovered four men carting a kamikaze drone equipped with an IED and a remote detonator last week, in what analysts say is an example of cartels figuring out how to weaponizing UAVs. Published October 24, 2017
Brian Frosh, Maryland attorney general, seeks to derail probe into Hillary Clinton’s lawyers
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh asked the state's highest court Monday to step in and derail an investigation into Hillary Clinton's personal lawyers over accusations of destruction of evidence that could eventually lead to them being disbarred. Published October 23, 2017
Sreynuon Lunn, Massachusetts ‘sanctuary’ model, arrested in robbery
The illegal immigrant whose case turned Massachusetts into a "sanctuary" state is behind bars yet again. Published October 23, 2017
Donald Trump to restore travel permit for Bill Browder, Putin critic
The Trump administration says it has approved the travel permit for Bill Browder, an anti-corruption crusader who Russia had tried to blacklist through an Interpol database in what he says is retaliation for exposing Moscow's dirty secrets. Published October 23, 2017
As deficits grow, Trump says he won’t touch Social Security, Medicare
Even with deficits ballooning, President Trump again ordered his budget team not to touch Social Security and Medicare as they scour the government for savings, the White House budget director said this weekend. Published October 23, 2017
