Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement

Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan

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

Articles by Stephen Dinan

President Barack Obama talks on the phone in the Oval Office with Speaker of the House Boehner, Saturday, August 31, 2013. Vice President Joe Biden listens at right. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Congress snubs Obama’s budget chief, works on own spending plan

The chairmen of the House and Senate budget committees canceled the invitation they issue to the White House budget chief every year to come and explain the new blueprint, saying President Obama's latest plan is going nowhere and there is no need to bother hearing from him. Published February 4, 2016

Newly arrived people who were caught in Arizona by the U.S. Border Patrol are initially processed at Tucson Sector U.S. Border Patrol headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., on Aug. 9, 2012. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Obama reinstates ‘catch-and-release’ policy for illegal immigrants

The Obama administration has revived the maligned illegal immigrant "catch-and-release" policy of the Bush years, ordering Border Patrol agents not to bother arresting and deporting many new illegal immigrants, the head of the agents' labor union revealed Thursday. Published February 4, 2016

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen answers to the House Oversight Committee at the Capitol in Washington on March 26, 2014, in the panel's continuing probe of whether tea party groups were improperly targeted for increased scrutiny by the government's tax agency. (Associated Press) **FILE**

IRS promises to stop erasing hard drives

The IRS has put an emergency stay on deleting its computer hard drives and devices such as BlackBerrys, with the commissioner saying in a letter to Congress on Wednesday that the agency goofed in deleting a key hard drive last year that was supposed to be preserved as part of a court case. Published February 3, 2016

Rubens

VA vows to punish employees after judges void sanctions

The VA insisted Tuesday it will still find a way to punish two employees accused of bilking the government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses after federal judges ruled that the department bungled its case against them, restored their full salaries and awarded them backpay. Published February 2, 2016

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson called the drop "encouraging," but said his department must keep up the pressure on illegal immigrants in order to prevent a relapse. (Associated Press)

Illegal immigrant border surge subsides in January

The tide of illegal immigrant families and unaccompanied children receded in January and Homeland Security claimed a partial victory Tuesday, saying stepped up enforcement has gotten the message back to Central Americans that they shouldn't try to make the trip north. Published February 2, 2016

President Barack Obama waves as he plays plays golf on the first hole at Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015. Obama and his family vacation every August on Martha's Vineyard, and he's been spending most of this year's two-week trip on the golf course, at the beach and dining at the island's upscale restaurants.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Obama’s presidency now effectively over

In the past week he has delivered a major speech to fellow Democrats, announced a new retirement savings plan and computer science initiative -- heck, he has even vowed a billion-dollar push to cure cancer. But President Obama just can't catch a break. Published February 1, 2016

President Barack Obama speaks in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Friday, Jan. 29, 2016, to commemorate the 7th Anniversary of the Signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Federal debt hits $19 trillion; new record set

The federal government is now officially $19 trillion in debt, according to the latest figures released by the Treasury Department Monday that show the Obama administration crossed that ignominious line late last week. Published February 1, 2016

Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez is led into the courtroom by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi for his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on July 7. After a widespread backlash to immigration enforcement in the country’s jails, local sheriffs’ agencies are coming up with new ways to help federal government efforts to ensure that immigrants with serious criminal convictions aren’t released back onto U.S. streets. (Associated Press)

John Culberson, GOP chairman: Sanctuary cities to face punishment in 2016

The House Republican in charge of writing the Justice Department's budget vowed Monday that this will be the year Congress punishes sanctuary cities, insisting he'll use his powers as chairman to make the Obama administration strip grant money from localities that refuse to cooperate with immigration agents. Published February 1, 2016