Stephen Dinan

NRA: U.S. gun manufacturing soars as Americans worry about security

The American firearms industry is as healthy as ever, seeing an unprecedented surge that has sent production of guns soaring to more than 10.8 million manufactured in 2013 alone — double the total of just three years earlier. Published May 19, 2015

Mitch McConnell’s NSA phone-snooping hopes set for Senate vote

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he would schedule a vote this week on a rewrite of the Patriot Act, setting up a final showdown on the NSA's bulk-data programs and putting pressure on civil liberties advocates to muster the 60 votes needed to end the snooping. Published May 19, 2015

Hillary Clinton Benghazi emails prioritized in ‘rolling’ State Department release

A federal judge Tuesday ordered the State Department to speed up release of former Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton's private emails, giving special priority to the messages on Benghazi -- and Mrs. Clinton said she's eager to see them all quickly made public. Published May 19, 2015

Pentagon waste: $1M spent at strip clubs, casinos

One Navy petty officer managed to spend six times his allotted per diem at strip clubs using his official government travel charge card, according to a new Pentagon audit Tuesday that found Defense Department employees made more than $1 million in bogus charges at strip clubs and casinos in just one year. Published May 19, 2015

House GOPers demand IRS investigate Clinton Foundation

House Republicans on Tuesday demanded the IRS open an investigation into the Clinton Foundation's tax-exempt status, questioning whether the organization has broken faith with its charitable mission by hiding some donations. Published May 19, 2015

Hillary Clinton emails release plan set by State Dept. rejected by judge

A federal judge rejected the State Department's plan to delay posting former Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton's emails, instead issuing an order Tuesday insisting the Obama administration release the thousands of messages on a rolling basis -- with the emails related to the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack given priority. Published May 19, 2015

John Boehner demands Obama do-over on Islamic State war request

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Tuesday that President Obama should withdraw his current war request from Congress and "start over," coming up with an entirely new strategy to fight the Islamic State after this weekend's setback in Iraq. Published May 19, 2015

Obama seeks to end immigration enforcement by local, state police

The administration issued a report Monday saying that in order to rebuild trust between police and their communities, the federal government should stop enlisting state and local police in most immigration enforcement, setting up another challenge as President Obama tries to please immigrant rights advocates while carrying out deportations. Published May 18, 2015

Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton will have to answer for Libya invasion

Sen. Rand Paul said Monday that if the GOP nominates him to run for president in 2016, he will be able to compete for votes in a Democratic stronghold like Philadelphia, particularly against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton. Published May 18, 2015

Ben Carson comes to Carly Fiorina’s defense on GOP debate participation

GOP presidential hopeful Ben Carson demanded fellow candidate Carly Fiorina be allowed in the upcoming primary debates the Republican Party is sponsoring, saying it would be embarrassing for her to be left off. Published May 16, 2015

DHS blames tech glitch for violating judge’s amnesty injunction

The Obama administration blamed a technology glitch for why it continued to approve new amnesty applications in February, even after a federal judge issued an injunction, telling the court late Friday that they are now begging about 2,000 illegal immigrants to tear up their three-year work authorizations. Published May 16, 2015

Obama trade deal complicated by Senate’s China currency manipulation crackdown

Brushing aside President Obama's objections, the Senate voted overwhelming Thursday to push back against China and other countries deemed guilty of depressing their own currencies to win a trade advantage versus the U.S., potentially complicating the White House's push for fast-track trade negotiating powers. Published May 14, 2015

House cancels illegal immigrant Dreamer path to military service

House Republicans voted Thursday to strike language that would have pushed the administration to allow illegal immigrant Dreamers to sign up for the military, in a move whose symbolism far outstripped its effect. Published May 14, 2015

Jeh Johnson honors heroic DHS employees

From the TSA agent who helped distract the attacker at the New Orleans airport to a Federal Protective Service inspector who grabbed a woman trying to jump off the Woodrow Wilson Bridge just outside Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson recognized a dozen department employees Thursday for valor. Published May 14, 2015

John Boehner: Blaming GOP for Amtrak crash is ‘stupid’

Accusations that Republicans are responsible for this week's deadly Amtrak train crash because of funding fights are "stupid," House Speaker John A. Boehner said Thursday, bristling at a question about the matter during his weekly press conference. Published May 14, 2015

Immigration enforcement system dysfunction tears apart family

In the end, their flights almost overlapped: The 11-year-old boy on his way to the U.S., granted a one-year parole to escape violence in his home of El Salvador, arrived in Dallas just a week after his uncle, Elvin Marroquin Diaz, whose testimony helped earn the boy his parole, was deported back to El Salvador. Published May 13, 2015

ICE releasing some illegals without knowing criminal history

The Homeland Security Department can't yet say how many illegal immigrants it's releasing under President Obama's prosecutorial discretion policies, and sometimes agents cut loose illegal immigrants without ever knowing their full criminal history, the department's inspector general said in a new report Wednesday. Published May 13, 2015

NSA phone snooping rejected by House; Patriot Act rewrite approved

Democrats and Republicans in the House linked arms Wednesday and voted to cancel the NSA's phone-snooping program and end all bulk data collection, approving a rewrite of the Patriot Act just weeks before the law's key provisions are due to expire. Published May 13, 2015

Sally Quillian Yates wins confirmation as deputy attorney general

The Senate confirmed Sally Quillian Yates on Wednesday to be deputy attorney general, giving her overwhelming support to fill the No. 2 spot at the Justice Department just weeks after her boss, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, struggled to make it through her own confirmation. Published May 13, 2015

Obama trade bill revived after bipartisan deal sets new votes

Senate leaders reached a deal Wednesday to revive trade legislation that Democrats had appeared to have scuttled just a day earlier, breathing new life into the centerpiece of President Obama's economic agenda -- though House Democrats vowed a tougher fight still awaits. Published May 13, 2015