Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Congress split over NSA’s domestic spying program, could just let laws expire
President Obama says the NSA's snooping programs need changes — but he tossed the biggest decisions to Congress, where the tide appears to be running against letting the government continue to scoop and hold Americans' phone data. Published January 19, 2014
States seek right to ask new voters for proof of citizenship
States are vowing to go to the courts for permission to ask newly registered voters to show proof of citizenship after a federal commission ruled late Friday that it's up to the national government, not states, to decide what to include on registration forms. Published January 19, 2014
New federal ruling forbids states from checking voters’ citizenship
States are vowing to go to the courts for permission to ask newly registered voters to show proof of citizenship after a federal commission ruled late Friday that it's up to the national government, not states, to decide what to include on registration forms. Published January 18, 2014
Democrats subpoena records from governor’s office, Christie campaign in bridge scandal
New Jersey Democrats have subpoenaed documents from Gov. Chris Christie's office and campaign in their legislative investigation into the bridge-closure scandal, along with records from 18 individuals, according to the complete list released Friday evening. Published January 17, 2014
Oklahoma’s Sen. Coburn, battling cancer, stepping down before term ends
Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who has carved out a niche as Congress's top waste-watcher, announced late Thursday that he will leave the Senate at the end of this year — a full two years before his term is up. Published January 16, 2014
Republican leaders push bill to update Voting Rights Act
Key lawmakers announced a rewrite of the Voting Rights Act on Thursday, creating a test to judge which states are still so discriminatory that they need federal scrutiny of their voting decisions — moving to revive the iconic law just months after the Supreme Court declared part of it unconstitutional. Published January 16, 2014
New Jersey lawmakers begin Christie probe over Bridgegate
The New Jersey General Assembly voted Thursday to open a special investigation into Gov. Chris Christie's handling of the bridge-closure scandal, setting up a committee that immediately issued 20 subpoenas. Published January 16, 2014
ACLU bashes Obama on NSA surveillance
A leading civil liberties group lashed out Wednesday after reports suggested that President Obama won't make major changes to government surveillance programs after months of review and hand-wringing over revelations by former spy-agency contractor Edward Snowden. Published January 15, 2014
BENGHAZI WAS PREVENTABLE: Hillary Clinton cited for major security lapses
The 2012 terrorist assault on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, involved attackers from several major international terrorist networks, according to a Senate report that blames the intelligence community and the State Department — and Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens himself — for lapses. Published January 15, 2014
Official portrait paintings bumped off federal budget
Congress' spending bill funds the National Endowment for the Arts, but one art project finally is getting cut off: the official portrait paintings of presidents, Cabinet secretaries and high-ranking members of Congress. Published January 14, 2014
Issa questions Labor secretary over IRS scandal
The House's chief investigator on Tuesday implicated another top Obama administration figure in the controversy over the administration's probe into criminal wrongdoing at the IRS, saying Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez must answer questions about why an Obama donor was named to lead the investigation into the tax agency's tea-party targeting. Published January 14, 2014
Spending bill takes first swipe at NSA over domestic spying
Tucked inside the massive new government spending bill are several demands from Congress that the National Security Agency finally report to Congress on the details of its snooping programs, including the number of telephone records collected and the number actually viewed by NSA employees. Published January 14, 2014
Spending bill bans IRS targeting, preserves incandescent light bulbs
Congressional negotiators reached a deal late Monday on a massive spending bill to fund the government for the rest of 2014, agreeing to undo last year's cut to military retirement benefits and a list of other GOP demands in exchange for the higher spending levels. Published January 13, 2014
Supreme Court Justices skeptical of Obama’s end run around Congress
Supreme Court justices were skeptical Monday of President Obama's claim of almost unlimited appointment powers, saying he appeared to be trampling on the founders' vision when he tried to do an end-run around the Senate in 2012. Published January 13, 2014
Supreme Court’s first case in 2014: Mulling recess appointment question
For the Supreme Court, whether President Obama's recess appointments were legal could well rest on whether the justices side with Presidents Washington, Jefferson and Madison, or whether they stick with the 40 men who followed the founders. Published January 12, 2014
FBI contacts tea party groups targeted by IRS
The FBI finally has begun to contact some of the tea party groups targeted by the Internal Revenue Service for inappropriate scrutiny and delays in the first public signs that the administration's criminal investigation is progressing. Published January 9, 2014
Nancy Pelosi: Don’t call it Obamacare
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi corrected a reporter Thursday who called Democrats' health care law "Obamacare." Published January 9, 2014
Rep. Diane Black again pushes to close immigration-rights advocacy office
Saying the Obama administration is ignoring a direct order from Congress, a congresswoman has introduced legislation that would — once again — eliminate the Obama administration's official immigration-rights advocacy office. Published January 8, 2014
McCain slams way border is patrolled
Sen. John McCain, one of the chief authors of the Senate immigration bill, said Wednesday that the border is still not secure, and said he thinks U.S. Customs and Border Protection isn't even patrolling it correctly. Published January 8, 2014
JUSTICE: Feds pick Obama supporter to lead probe into IRS tea party targeting
EXCLUSIVE: The Justice Department selected an avowed political supporter of President Obama to lead the criminal probe into the IRS targeting of tea party groups, according to top Republicans who said Wednesday that the move has ruined the entire investigation. Published January 8, 2014
