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Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan

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

Articles by Stephen Dinan

Transportation Security Inspector Cara Ropp and Nestle check out passengers at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, in Romulus, Mich. The TSA showed off Nestle who is being used to detect explosives and explosive components at the airport. The passenger screening canines, or PSCs, are being used to identify and locate potential explosive threats at security checkpoints. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

TSA allowed ‘domestic terrorist’ to get ‘PreCheck’ status: Audit

The Transportation Security Agency granted expedited passenger status to a traveler investigators described as part of a domestic terrorist group, and refused to rescind the designation even after a line officer recognized the person, an inspector general said late Thursday. Published March 20, 2015

Gloria Villatoro joins her children and community members in prayer at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Des Moines, Iowa. Max Villatoro was arrested by immigration officials and faces deportation under new administration rules. (Associated Press)

Max Villatoro case tests Obama amnesty as Iowa Mennonite pastor faces deportation

Immigrant-rights advocates are mounting an all-out push to stop the deportation of a Mennonite Iowa pastor who sneaked into the U.S. illegally, arguing that his past immigration violations and criminal history should be forgiven if President Obama is really committed to keeping families together. Published March 19, 2015

The exterior of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington is seen here on March 22, 2013. (Associated Press) **FILE**

IRS botches computer security, risks taxpayer info: audit

The IRS sometimes uses old software without key security patches that leave its computer systems vulnerable and could endanger taxpayers' private information, the Government Accountability Office said Thursday. Published March 19, 2015

In this undated photo from the U.S. Border Patrol, Crystal A. Diaz, a U.S. Border Patrol agent with the Tucson Sector in Arizona, rides her ATV while on patrol. The Border Patrol is on a hiring spree for a very specific type of agent: a female one. Only 5 percent of its approximately 21,000 agents around the country are women, and the agency has long called this a problem. It is especially troublesome in the Southwest, where nearly 120,000 women were caught crossing the border illegally in the fiscal year that ended Oct. 31. That's a significant increase from fiscal year 2011, when about 43,000 women were apprehended. (AP Photo/U.S. Border Patrol)

23 Dreamers from Obama amnesty snared in criminal dragnet

Nearly two dozen of the illegal immigrants picked up in a nationwide sweep for criminal aliens earlier this month had previously been approved for President Obama's deportation amnesty, the Homeland Security Department said Wednesday. Published March 19, 2015

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**

DHS released another 30,000 criminal aliens onto streets

Federal immigration officers released another 30,000 immigrants with criminal records last year, following the 36,000 it released in 2013, the government announced Wednesday — though it promised to take steps to cut down on the problem. Published March 18, 2015

House Speaker John A. Boehner said that after the upcoming GOP House retreat, the Republicans will have a better plan on how to cancel out President Obama's amnesty. (Associated Press)

GOP warns Obama not to try executive-fiat tax hikes

Congress's two top tax chairmen warned President Obama on Wednesday not to claim unilateral executive powers to raise taxes on his own, saying it violates the Constitution and ruins chances for a lasting deal. Published March 18, 2015

Tea Party supporters gather for a rally outside the IRS headquarter in Washington, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A few dozen tea party activists and their supporters have gathered outside the IRS headquarters in Washington to protest extra scrutiny of their organizations. (Associated Press) **FILE**

IRS chief admits some tea party groups still waiting approval

The IRS is still blocking applications for nearly a dozen tea party groups seeking tax-exempt status, Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress on Wednesday — though he bristled at the organizations' claims of poor treatment. Published March 18, 2015

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress on Wednesday that he has had to take money away from answering phone calls and instead spend it on technology and personnel to carry out President Obama's health care law. (Associated Press)

IRS blames Obamacare for shoddy customer service

The IRS is blaming Obamacare for the agency's poor customer service, with Commissioner John Koskinen telling Congress on Wednesday that he has had to take money away from answering phone calls and instead spend it on technology and personnel to carry out President Obama's health care law. Published March 18, 2015

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on March 2, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Democrats filibuster trafficking bill; GOP to delay Lynch nomination

Senators found a new way to achieve partisan gridlock Tuesday as Democrats filibustered a bipartisan anti-human trafficking bill, and Republicans countered by saying they won't confirm Loretta Lynch, President Obama's pick to be the new attorney general, until he convinces his party to drop its blockade. Published March 17, 2015

The Social Security Administration's main campus in Woodlawn, Md., is seen here on Jan. 11, 2013. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Feds shelled out $125B in bogus payments last year

The government paid out $124.7 billion in potentially bogus payments last year, the government's chief watchdog said Monday, blaming a controversial tax credit for the poor as well as increased bad payments in Medicare and Medicaid. Published March 16, 2015

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and fellow Republicans are trying to shift focus away from a controversial letter to Iranian leaders last week and back toward details of the nuclear deal President Obama is negotiating with the Islamic republic. (Associated Press)

Republicans demand voice on Iran deal

Republicans will try to find their footing anew on national security this week, looking to try to overcome last week's ill-received letter to Iran's leaders and instead focus on President Obama's negotiations, and on Congress' role in approving whatever deal he strikes with Tehran. Published March 15, 2015

In this March 2, 2015 photo, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers try to gain entry to an apartment building, in the Bronx borough of New York, during a series of early-morning arrests. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement say an increasing number of cities and counties across the United States are limiting cooperation with the agency and putting its officers in dangerous situations as they track down foreign-born criminals. Instead, more of its force is out on the streets, eating up resources and conducting investigations because cities like New York and states like California have passed legislation that limits many of the detention requests issued by immigration authorities. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Amnesty makes illegals eligible for all Social Security benefits: report

A Nebraska senator will introduce a bill Monday that would deny Social Security numbers to illegal immigrants approved for President Obama’s new deportation amnesty, as a new congressional study finds that those granted work permits under the amnesty would be eligible for all Social Security benefits. Published March 13, 2015

Late last year, or 18 months after she left office, Mrs. Clinton turned over 55,000 printed pages she said contained about 30,000 emails she believed were work-related that she sent during her time in office. (Associated Press)

Hillary Clinton email scandal: State Department to reopen court case

The State Department agreed to reopen at least one open-records court case that involved former Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton's emails, a conservative watchdog group told a federal court Thursday as the scandal over her personal email server continued to develop. Published March 12, 2015

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. (credit: White House photo/Pete Souza)

Obama asks appeals court to re-start amnesty

The administration asked a federal appeals court Thursday to let President Obama's amnesty go into effect immediately, calling a lower judge's ruling halting the amnesty "unprecedented and wrong," and saying illegal immigrants will suffer until the policy begins. Published March 12, 2015

"Hundreds of thousands of enrollees lost their plans when co-ops in nine states collapsed, and these victims deserve clear and honest answers from the bureaucrats who oversaw the mess," said Sen. Ben Sasse, Nebraska Republican. (Associated Press)

Senators demand to know how many illegals got Social Security numbers

The administration doled out about 90,000 Social Security numbers to illegal immigrants in the first months of President Obama's first amnesty in 2012, according to two GOP senators who demanded Thursday to know how many since then have been granted, and whether any benefits are already being paid out. Published March 12, 2015