Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Border security proposal gives Napolitano new waivers
Analysts looking through the new border security deal in the Senate say it includes waivers that would let Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refuse to build any new fencing or install the new technology the plan lays out in close detail. Published June 22, 2013
Napolitano approves Senate’s border security plan
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano late Friday endorsed the new border security plan being offered in the Senate. Published June 21, 2013
McConnell: Obama a free-speech ‘bully’
A year after he warned that President Obama was pursuing a broad government overreach that threatened free speech, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the recent scandal with the IRS shows how far the White House has gone in a "coordinated effort to stifle speech." Published June 21, 2013
Coburn slams Agriculture for wasteful spending
Even as it is cutting food programs for poor women and children, the Agriculture Department is still spending money on housing for wealthy residents on Martha's Vineyard and paying companies to run marketing campaigns for alcohol, pickles and jelly, according to a senator who wants to see those priorities changed. Published June 20, 2013
Obama to officially nominate Comey for FBI
President Obama on Friday will officially nominate James B. Comey to lead the FBI, a White House official said, tapping a former member of the Bush administration to oversee the country's top law enforcement agency at a time when it's facing new pressures over secrecy and snooping. Published June 20, 2013
Border security deal boosts immigration bill’s chances in Senate
Senators struck a deal Thursday to boost border security in the immigration bill, including building 700 miles of fence and adding 20,000 Border Patrol agents to the Southwest, in a move those on both sides say could clear the way for a bipartisan vote next week. Published June 20, 2013
Rubio breaks with Gang of Eight
Sen. Marco Rubio broke Thursday with the rest of the Gang of Eight that wrote the immigration bill, voting to back a strict border security amendment that would have imposed real yardsticks for any eventual path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Published June 20, 2013
Sen. Tom Coburn tells feds to quit propping up wineries, expensive vacation homes
Even as it's cutting food programs for poor women and children, the Agriculture Department is still spending money on housing for wealthy residents on Martha's Vineyard and paying companies to run marketing campaigns for alcohol, pickles and jelly, according to a top senator who wants to see those priorities changed. Published June 20, 2013
Immigration agents say border security deal not good enough
Republican senators are nearing agreement on a border security amendment they hope can win over wavering votes on the immigration bill, but the head of the immigration agents' union sent a letter to the two key senators Thursday warning that a narrow focus on border security will still leave the U.S. vulnerable. Published June 20, 2013
Senate cuts itself out of border security certification
Senators said Wednesday they don't want to be involved in certifying whether the border is secure, saying that putting that question before a political body could keep illegal immigrants from being legalized. Published June 19, 2013
House staffer survives — easily — on food stamps
A staff member for a Texas Republican decided to take on the challenge of eating a fill week's worth of meals on the $31.50 allotted for a food stamp recipient, and says he ended up with nearly $4 to spare. Published June 19, 2013
Immigration bill boosts costs of ‘Obamacare’
The Senate immigration bill will be good for the U.S. economy as a whole, but for individual workers the picture is not as good — in fact, unemployment will rise slightly and average wages will drop over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office's analysis Monday. Published June 19, 2013
CBO: Immigration bill only stops 25 percent of illegal immigration
The Senate immigration bill will be a major boost to the federal budget but does relatively little to clamp down on illegal immigration — cutting the future flow by only about 25 percent — according to the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the bill, released Tuesday afternoon. Published June 18, 2013
Senate rejects border fence
Senators on Tuesday rejected building the 700 miles of double-tier border fencing Congress authorized just seven years ago, with a majority of the Senate saying they didn't want to delay granting illegal immigrants legal status while the fence was being built. Published June 18, 2013
Speaker John Boehner: House GOP majority must back any immigration bill
Speaker John A. Boehner said Tuesday that he won't bring an immigration bill to the chamber floor unless it can win the support of a majority of House Republicans, creating hurdles for those hoping to see Congress legalize illegal immigrants. Published June 18, 2013
Senate set to vote on border fence amendment in immigration bill
A week into the immigration debate, the Senate has finally set up showdowns Tuesday afternoon on some of the biggest questions, including whether to build the full 700-mile fence Congress approved seven years ago, but never followed through on. Published June 18, 2013
Supreme Court: Federal law trumps Arizona in voter registration battle
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the federal government can pre-empt a state and require that it use a national voter registration form, in a decision that punctured part of Arizona's far-reaching voter-check laws. Published June 17, 2013
At 24 pounds, immigration bill is too big for many to swallow
At 1,075 pages long, it's not the biggest bill to come through in recent years — that honor still belongs to the health care law — but the immigration legislation pending in the Senate is challenging the ability of voters to get their brains around its complexity. Published June 16, 2013
Senate panel gives Obama flexibility on transferring detainees
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted Thursday to give President Obama more flexibility to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay into the U.S. or to other countries, moving to grant some of the powers the administration is seeking. Published June 13, 2013
Obama says Syria has crossed ‘red line’ with chemical weapons, will send weapons
The Syrian government used chemical weapons against rebel forces trying to overthrow the regime, the Obama administration said Thursday, acknowledging that President Bashar Assad has without doubt crossed the "red line" President Obama laid down for U.S. action in the country's bloody civil war. Published June 13, 2013
