Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Reid tells House to pass Senate immigration bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid challenged House Republicans to forgo their own debate and pass the Senate's immigration bill instead, telling Speaker John A. Boehner to ignore his Republican colleagues in order to get a bill done. Published July 8, 2013
All eyes on border as House bill on immigration takes shape; groups hold out for hope
House Republicans will meet this week to plan their immigration strategy, which seems designed to push the issue to the right, but the Senate bill already faces a backlash on the left, where advocacy groups say the added border security is testing the limits of enforcement. Published July 8, 2013
Officials see immigration reform bolstering Social Security in the short term
The White House said this week that passing the immigration bill will help boost Social Security — a claim that gets at the heart of the immigration debate and whether it's good for the economy or not. Published July 4, 2013
More agents, fencing may cut illegal immigration by half; Senate bill’s critics not satisfied
Spending $35 billion on new Border Patrol agents and fencing would keep tens of thousands of new illegal immigrants from crossing the border each year, but would still only stop between a third and half of future illegal immigration, according to the Congressional Budget Office's latest analysis released Wednesday. Published July 3, 2013
Immigrants account for all job gains since 2000: native-born workers’ employment has fallen
Immigrants — both legal and illegal — have accounted for all of the job gains in the U.S. labor market since 2000, according to a report that highlights the stiff competition for jobs in a tight economy as Congress debates adding more workers to the mix. Published July 3, 2013
Bad weather changes congressional environment voting: Study
Lawmakers are more likely to vote for climate change legislation after freak storms hit their home states or districts, according to a new Harvard University study announced Tuesday that looks at how specific weather events affect the public debate. Published July 2, 2013
Sen. Marco Rubio’s political future is tied to success of immigration bill
Sen. Marco Rubio was the glue that held together the immigration deal in the Senate, helping set the stage for adding tens of thousands of Border Patrol agents to the final deal — but failing to win many of the changes the Florida Republican himself said he needed to see. Published June 30, 2013
Congressman: Senate immigration bill unconstitutional
Rep. Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican, said Friday that the Senate immigration bill is a revenue measure, which makes it unconstitutional because all revenue bills must start in the House. Published June 28, 2013
Border Patrol agents have ‘serious concerns’ about Senate immigration bill
The National Border Patrol Council, the union for the agents charged with guarding the U.S.-Mexico border, says it has "serious concerns" about the way the new Senate bill handles security in the southwest — adding a major new critical voice to the immigration debate. Published June 28, 2013
Senators’ votes on immigration were linked to personal experiences
With the fates of their political parties — and in many cases their own re-elections — hanging on their votes, senators stood, one after the other, to say "Aye" or "No" on the most significant piece of legislation since health care. Most of them had their personal immigration experiences on their minds. Published June 27, 2013
Intelligence community adds $4 billion to its public budget
The intelligence community said Thursday its public budget request for 2014 is actually $52.2 billion, not the $48.2 billion it said in April. Published June 27, 2013
Immigration bill clears Senate, faces uncertain future in House; historic day for immigrants
Vowing that they have learned the lessons from the 1986 amnesty, the Senate on Thursday approved the biggest changes to the immigration system in a generation, promising this version will prevent another wave of illegal immigrants while granting a pathway to citizenship to most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country. Published June 27, 2013
Immigration bill clears final filibuster
Senators beat back a final filibuster of the immigration bill Thursday afternoon, clearing the way for the measure to pass in a final vote at 4 p.m. — intact and almost exactly as the Gang of Eight wrote it. Published June 27, 2013
Senate speeds toward immigration bill passage
The Senate is headed for its final immigration votes, with the last filibuster test slated for noon Thursday — a vote all sides expect will signal easy passage by the end of the week — and lawmakers are facing furious last-minute lobbying from both sides. Published June 27, 2013
IRS auditor reaffirms that conservatives, not liberals, were targeted
The IRS inspector general said this week that while some liberal groups were given extra scrutiny by the tax agency, they were not subjected to the same invasive queries as tea party groups — a finding that seems to confirm a political bias was at play. Published June 27, 2013
Immigration bill survives filibuster, speeds toward passage
The immigration bill survived a major filibuster test Wednesday in a 67-31 vote that signals the measure is on a speedy path out of the Senate this week while underscoring just how far the bill has come since the last debate in 2007. Published June 26, 2013
Gay couples can immigrate under DOMA ruling
The Supreme Court's ruling that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional should immediately open up immigration benefits to same-sex partners in states where their unions are recognized as marriages. Published June 26, 2013
Slow-going on immigration in Senate
With the immigration bill's passage in the Senate now a forgone conclusion, the only question is whether the lawmakers will get the chance to vote on any other amendments before signing off and sending the measure to an uncertain future in the House. Published June 25, 2013
As Democrats call on Congress to fix Voting Rights Act, GOP goes quiet
The Supreme Court didn't overturn the entire Voting Rights Act in its Tuesday ruling, but it did say that if lawmakers want to keep using it, Congress will have to update it for the 21st century. But that throws the problem over to a legislature that has had trouble passing the most basic spending bills to keep the government open. Published June 25, 2013
Obama: Supreme Court ruling on voting rights a ‘setback’
President Obama said Tuesday the Supreme Court erred striking down part of the Voting Rights Act, calling it a "setback" for minority voters. Published June 25, 2013
