Stephen Dinan

USAID wasted millions on Ukrainian pet products and fashion junkets, Sen. Ernst says

At first blush, it might be difficult to connect dog collars with Ukraine's war against Russia. But according to data compiled by Sen. Joni Ernst, the U.S. Agency for International Development spent $300,000 of American taxpayers' money in 2022 to boost the Ukrainian pet alliance, which markets the country's products in the West. Published February 26, 2025

Judge blocks Trump’s pause on refugee admissions

A federal judge issued an injunction Tuesday halting President Trump's attempt to pause refugee admissions. Published February 25, 2025

‘Self-deport’: Noem vows to flex immigration laws on the books but never enforced

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that her department will begin to enforce laws that allow consequences to be delivered to illegal immigrants who have resisted leaving the country or who otherwise defied U.S. laws. Published February 25, 2025

Democratic congressman punished for calling Trump ‘grifter in chief’

A Republican House committee chair threatened to call the sergeant-at-arms Tuesday to silence a Democratic congressman who repeatedly called Elon Musk the president and referred to President Trump as the "grifter in chief." Published February 25, 2025

Judge stiffens hold on Trump’s funding pause, warning of ‘potentially catastrophic harm’

A federal judge stiffened her order blocking President Trump from carrying out his general government funding pause by issuing a preliminary injunction Tuesday. Published February 25, 2025

Supreme Court tosses murder conviction of man who sat on death row for decades

Richard Glossip was about to be executed in 2015, saved at the last minute only because of a mix-up in the lethal injection drugs Oklahoma had planned to use. Published February 25, 2025

Office of Special Counsel wants 45-day delay in Trump firings

The government's top cop for policing federal workers' rights has urged the Merit Systems Protection Board to hit pause on the Trump administration's attempt to fire some probationary workers, saying it appears the ousters are "impermissible." Published February 25, 2025

Trump’s tally: 38,000 feds fired so far, 6,000 of them veterans

House Democrats have calculated that more than 38,000 federal workers have been canned so far as part of President Trump's early moves to remake the federal bureaucracy, and nearly 6,000 of them are veterans. Published February 25, 2025

DHS sees best border numbers in 15 years

The Border Patrol saw its best single day in more than 15 years with just 200 illegal immigrants nabbed at the southern border, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday. Published February 24, 2025

Trump wins first round vs. AP in fight over ‘Gulf of America’

A federal judge declined Monday to order the White House to restore The Associated Press' special access to presidential news coverage, delivering the first round of the legal battle to President Trump. Published February 24, 2025

ICE, Texas move against massive migrant settlement, Gov. Abbott says

Federal agents and Texas state troopers moved in on Colony Ridge, a major migrant settlement that sprang up in recent years and has become a magnet for new arrivals -- and sparked reports of rampant crime. Published February 24, 2025

Judge rules against Homeland Security’s new policy allowing arrests at churches

A federal judge in Maryland ruled Monday that the Trump administration acted too hastily with its new policy unshackling immigration officers to make arrests anywhere, including churches, saying such actions would trample on the rights of churches and temples to conduct their services. Published February 24, 2025

Sanctuary cities sue to stop Trump’s DOJ from prosecuting them

Two sanctuary cities in Massachusetts have sued President Trump and the Justice Department in an extraordinary lawsuit that asks a judge to block the feds from bringing criminal charges against city leaders. Published February 24, 2025

DOJ: Associated Press doesn’t deserve ‘unfettered access’ to president

The Department of Justice on Monday defended President Trump's decision to kick The Associated Press out of the "pool" that covers the White House. Published February 24, 2025

New York City to shut down notorious migrant shelter at Roosevelt Hotel

New York City's migrant shelter at the Roosevelt Hotel, which had become a symbol of the Biden border crisis, will soon be shut down, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday. Published February 24, 2025

Judge blocks DOGE access to Education Department, federal personnel files

A federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary injunction Monday blocking the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing student loan systems at the Education Department and a broader set of personnel files at the Office of Personnel Management. Published February 24, 2025

Supreme Court demurs on Trump’s first appeal over firing powers

The Supreme Court has rebuffed President Trump's initial attempt to expand his firing powers, as the first case involving the new administration's aggressive agenda reached the high court. Published February 23, 2025

Trump on major losing streak on birthright citizenship

President Trump's deadline for denying automatic citizenship to illegal immigrants passed with barely a whimper last week as the policy remains snared in a web of court rulings -- all of them against the president. Published February 23, 2025

New York City sues to force feds to give back $80 million in migrant money

New York filed a lawsuit Friday asking a judge to restore $80 million in migrant aid money that the Trump administration plucked out of the city's accounts earlier this month. Published February 22, 2025

Judge says Musk’s DOGE can access federal employee data

A federal judge has refused to shut down the Department of Government Efficiency's access to human resources files of government employees, saying there was no "concrete evidence" that the DOGE was misusing the data right now. Published February 21, 2025