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Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan

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

Articles by Stephen Dinan

First lady Michelle Obama talks at the Jessie Trice Community Health Care Center in Miami, Wednesday, March 5, 2014, to highlight the work that hospitals, doctors and clinics are doing to educate their patients about the Affordable Care Act and how patients can get insurance. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

1M kids stop school lunch due to Michelle Obama’s food standards

The federal government's changes to school lunch menus have been disastrous, causing problems for cafeterias trying to comply with the rules and leaving the menu so expensive or unpalatable that more than 1 million students have stopped buying lunch. Published February 27, 2014

Ousted IRS chief Steve Miller, right, and J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, are sworn in on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, prior to testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Official’s testimony reveals IRS planned crackdown rules in 2012

The IRS's new proposal to crack down on nonprofits was in the works a year before the tea party targeting scandal broke, according to a Treasury Department official who told congressional investigators it was spurred by pressure from outside parties. Published February 27, 2014

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio meets with reporters on e Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014, following a Republican caucus. When asked about House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., and his plan to release a rewrite of the nation’s tax code later today, Boehner distanced himself from the details and wouldn't promise a House vote on the plan this year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Boehner: ‘Healthy’ talk with Obama on immigration reform

Immigration was the one area of agreement House Speaker John A. Boehner highlighted out of his private meeting this week with President Obama, signaling that the prospect for legislation may still have legs this year. Published February 27, 2014

** FILE ** House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, holds a Jan. 23, 2013, news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington to discuss the reintroduction of the Violence Against Women Act. (Associated Press)

Pelosi: I’m not retiring

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the looming retirements of many of her top lieutenants doesn't mean she will be leaving soon. Published February 27, 2014

Peralta

Fallen Marine Rafael Peralta’s family accuses reporter of playing ‘race card’

Ten years after a 2004 firefight in Iraq, Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s death continues to ignite controversy, with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last week refusing to reopen his nomination for the Medal of Honor and the Marine’s family accusing a newspaper of race-baiting in its reporting on the standoff. Published February 27, 2014

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told Congress on Wednesday that he wants to keep the department's drones focused on border security. He did not rule out, though, the possibility of loaning to drones out to other governmental agencies. (Associated Press)

Jeh Johnson wants Homeland Security drones focused on border

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told Congress Wednesday that he wants to try to keep the department's drones focused on border security — though he didn't rule out lending them out to other law enforcement agencies for serious investigations. Published February 26, 2014

Internal Revenue Service (IRS( Commissioner John Koskinen arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, to testify before the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee hearing on the IRS. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

New IRS rules on tea party won’t be ready before election

The IRS said Wednesday its new proposal to crack down on tea party and other nonprofit groups won't be ready before the November elections — even as House Republicans voted to halt the entire process for the next year, arguing the tax agency hasn't even learned the lessons of its previous problems. Published February 26, 2014

** FILE ** Illegal immigrants have been the focus of much debate. (Associated Press)

Obama eases penalties for businesses hiring illegal immigrants

The Obama administration regularly cuts a break for businesses that violate immigration hiring rules, reducing their fines by an average of 40 percent from what they should be, according to an audit released Tuesday that suggests the government could be doing more to go after unscrupulous employers. Published February 25, 2014

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2014 file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. It was once the backbone of the House Republican majority _ the steadfast stand that brought President Barack Obama to the negotiating table and yielded more than $2 trillion in deficit reduction. On Tuesday, Feb. 11, it abruptly vanished, the victim of Republican disunity and a president determined not to bargain again. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Tea party group settles on challenger to Boehner

After conducting a search and straw poll, a national tea party group has settled on a Republican primary challenger to House Speaker John A. Boehner, picking high school teacher J.D. Winteregg to carry the tea party banner in the intraparty battle. Published February 25, 2014

FILE - This Feb. 4, 2014 file photo shows Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Supreme Court appeared divided on Monday over the sole Obama administration program already in place to limit power plant and factory emissions of gases blamed for global warming. The presence of McConnell in the courtroom underscored the political stakes in President Barack Obama’s high-profile effort to deal with global warming _ a policy Obama is pursuing after failing to persuade Congress to enact climate change legislation. McConnell is facing a tough re-election fight in which he refers often to the administration’s assault on the coal industry in Kentucky and elsewhere. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Supreme Court weighs EPA powers on clean air

A divided Supreme Court grappled Monday with just how much power Congress intended to give the EPA in the Clean Air Act, in a case that could determine how much of an end run President Obama can do around Capitol Hill as he seeks to impose his own solutions to climate change. Published February 24, 2014

**FILE** President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Thomas J. Donohue, left, listens as AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka, right, testifies before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on transportation infrastructure Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) **FILE**

U.S. Chamber of Commerce pleads for increased immigration

Polls show most Americans prefer to see legal immigration kept steady or reduced, rather than increased, believing more immigration will lead to competition for jobs. But Chamber President Thomas J. Donohue said Americans shouldn't be worried. Published February 24, 2014

FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2013 file photo, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. According to AP source: Dingell, the longest-serving member of Congress, to retire. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Dingell leaving House after record career

Rep. John D. Dingell, the longest-serving congressman in history, announced Monday he’s so fed up with Washington politics that he’s retiring, ending a storied career that’s lasted nearly six decades. Published February 24, 2014

President Obama reacts during an Oval Office meeting in this file photo. (White House photo/Pete Souza) ** FILE **

Obama’s stimulus beginning to drag economy down

President Obama's stimulus may have boosted the economy when it passed in 2009, but it's now beginning to take a toll and will soon begin to leave the economy worse off than if it had never passed, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office. Published February 21, 2014

**FILE** Illegal immigrants file into a U.S. Border Patrol facility in Tucson, Ariz. (Associated Press)

Americans want legal immigration cut in half, poll finds

Americans want to see illegal immigrant young adults given legal status, but they are far less forgiving to most others, and want to see a huge reduction in legal immigration as well, according to a new poll released last week by a group that wants to see an immigration crackdown. Published February 21, 2014

Obama must take Bieber petition seriously

Deporting Justin Bieber has become the second most popular petition in the three-year history of President Obama's online petition program, tapping a depth of anger at the Canadian pop singer — and leaving the White House to ponder how to respond. Published February 20, 2014