Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Judge halts Donald Trump’s transgender troop ban
A federal judge on Monday halted President Trump's move to oust transgender service members from the military, saying those troops qualify as a protected class and rejecting Mr. Trump's claim that his national security decisions shouldn't be questioned. Published October 30, 2017
GOP congressman says tea party apology ‘not accepted’
Rep. Vern Buchanan said Monday that the administration's apology last week for tea party targeting wasn't good enough, and said "heads should roll" at the IRS. Published October 30, 2017
Nancy Pelosi calls for ‘fully independent’ investigation of Trump, Russia ties
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Monday that a "fully independent" investigation was still needed to investigate possible collusion with Russia. Published October 30, 2017
George Washington’s church to tear down memorial honoring first president
George Washington was one of the founding members of Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, buying pew No. 5 when the church opened in 1773 and attending for more than two decades whenever he rode north from Mount Vernon to do business in town. Published October 27, 2017
ACLU sues Trump administration
The ACLU sued Thursday to try to force the Trump administration to grant Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protections to an illegal immigrant woman, in a case that will test the boundaries of the Obama-era deportation amnesty and President Trump's bid to end it. Published October 26, 2017
Tea party groups targeted by IRS get $3.5 million settlement
The Trump administration agreed Thursday to pay $3.5 million to tea party groups snared by IRS targeting during the Obama administration, saying the intrusive scrutiny was illegal and cannot be allowed to happen again. Published October 26, 2017
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
