Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Marines fight for recognition of fallen comrade’s courage
U.S. combat troops are gone from Iraq, but for some of the Marines who lived through it, there's one more fight to win: making sure one of the fallen, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, is awarded the Medal of Honor. Published November 19, 2012
Democrat leads, West still fights at deadline for Florida recount
Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy declared victory Sunday over Rep. Allen B. West after a partial recount this weekend showed him still leading by more than half a percentage point — though Mr. West is refusing to concede, and questions linger over how ballots were treated in one Florida county. Published November 18, 2012
Congress demands EPA’s secret email accounts
A House committee has launched an investigation into whether EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson used an email alias to try to hide correspondence from open-government requests and her agency's own internal watchdog — something that Republican lawmakers said could run afoul of the law. Published November 17, 2012
West wins request for recount of some ballots
Rep. Allen West won a full recount of early voting in St. Lucie County when the county's canvassing board voted late Friday to grant his request. Published November 17, 2012
Judge denies West’s recount bid in bitter Florida race
A Florida judge on Friday denied Republican Rep. Allen West's plea for a full recount of early voting ballots in St. Lucie County, saying he didn't have authority to grant the request, according to the Palm Beach Post. Published November 16, 2012
Leaders on Hill ready to bargain on taxes
Top congressional leaders of both parties, eager to avoid the "fiscal cliff," are beginning to show signs of willingness to compromise on the thorny issue of raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans as they prepare to meet President Obama on Friday at the White House. Published November 15, 2012
GOP leaders back West’s call for recount
State and national Republican Party officials are getting behind Rep. Allen B. West's call for a recount of all early votes in St. Lucie County, Fla., saying it would be "unconscionable" not to answer lingering questions about the results, which show the outspoken GOP lawmaker trailing Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy. Published November 15, 2012
Early votes in West’s Florida race being recounted
Florida's secretary of state dispatched auditors Wednesday to try to get to the bottom of voting irregularities in St. Lucie County, where Rep. Allen B. West trails in vote-counting after last week's election but says there are too many questions for him to concede. Published November 14, 2012
Obama, GOP clash on Benghazi, Rice
An angry President Obama on Wednesday demanded his congressional critics "go after me" rather than snipe at his top aides, after two top Republican senators said U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice's inaccurate account of the cause of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi makes her unfit to be promoted. Published November 14, 2012
Pelosi wants to remain House minority leader
Underscoring just how little has changed despite last week's elections, both chambers of Congress are poised to re-elect the same people to lead them into next year. Published November 14, 2012
Lawmakers urge compromise, but refuse to budge from ‘cliff’
Republicans and Democrats returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday pledging to try to reach common ground — but as each side reinforced its pre-election battle lines, last week's results appear to have shifted little other than the rhetoric. Published November 13, 2012
U.S. government starts new year already in deficit
The federal government began fiscal year 2013 where it ended 2012 — deeply in the red, with a $120 billion deficit for October, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. Published November 13, 2012
Congress jumps on Libya inquiry
President Obama survived the election without having to answer many key questions about the September terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, but getting through the lame-duck session of Congress that opens Tuesday could be even tougher — especially with one key senator already talking about the possibility of subpoenas. Published November 12, 2012
Policies seen through partisan prism, study finds
Many Americans have blind spots when it comes to how well they know recent controversial policies, and Democrats are in the dark more than Republicans, according to a new comprehensive survey of voters by NORC at the University of Chicago. Published November 11, 2012
Schumer, Graham resurrect bipartisan immigration reform
New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, co-authors of a stalled bipartisan comprehensive immigration overhaul that includes a "path to citizenship" for the country's estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants, said Sunday that Tuesday's election results have created a new impetus for reforms. Published November 11, 2012
Boehner faces backlash on immigration overture
House Speaker John A. Boehner's overture to Democrats and President Obama on immigration reform is already drawing fire from within the GOP, where lawmakers say he's writing checks that his fellow House Republicans won't cash for him. Published November 9, 2012
Schumer: Put cost of superstorm on U.S. tab
New York's senior senator said Thursday that Congress likely will need to pass an emergency spending bill to help the recovery effort from Superstorm Sandy, and he said that money should be tacked onto the deficit. Published November 8, 2012
Boehner opens door to ‘comprehensive’ immigration
House Speaker John A. Boehner said Thursday that his chamber will try to make progress on "comprehensive" immigration reform — a nod to the growing power of Hispanics, but a move that could produce a bloody battle within his own party, depending on how far he pushes his troops. Published November 8, 2012
Fiscal cliff forecast: Bad now, worse later
As Congress prepares to try to negotiate ways to avoid the fiscal cliff, its own scorekeeper has some stark analysis: There will be pain no matter what, but ducking choices now will mean an even worse situation by the end of the decade. Published November 8, 2012
Democrats see strengthened hand on pushing immigration
The election has strengthened President Obama's hand on immigration, and Dream Act organizers said it likely means a flood of hundreds of thousands of new applications for his nondeportation policy — but it's not clear that anything has changed in the decade-long stalemate in Congress on the issue. Published November 7, 2012
