Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Higher taxes keep federal deficit in check
The federal government notched its 31st straight month in the red in April, though individual income tax receipts are "significantly" higher than expected and made the deficit smaller than it otherwise would have been, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday. Published May 6, 2011
House calls on Obama to issue drilling permits
With gas prices topping $4 a gallon, the House passed a bill Thursday that would order the Obama administration to issue offshore-drilling permits for leases it delayed or canceled in the wake of last year's Deep Horizon rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Published May 5, 2011
DHS wants new yardstick for improvements
Saying the measure of "operational control" of U.S. borders is obsolete, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Congress on Wednesday that the Obama administration is trying to come up with a new yardstick to better reflect the improvements it says it has made. Published May 4, 2011
Holder eyes Utah guest-worker law
A year after suing Arizona over its tough immigration law, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. told Congress on Tuesday that his department is prepared to sue Utah for going the other way and creating its own guest-worker program - though he is giving the state some time to change its law. Published May 3, 2011
Obama gets praise for bold action
When news of Osama bin Laden's killing broke late Sunday, thousands of people thronged Pennsylvania Avenue to celebrate near the White House, while just 16 blocks away the streets near the Capitol were deserted — a stark reminder of how the responsibility for the daring assassination raid rested squarely on one man's shoulders. Published May 2, 2011
Brewer leads charge against feds
Before there was Scott Walker, Rick Scott, Nathan Deal or Nikki Haley, there was Arizona's Jan Brewer — the original Republican protest governor, going toe-to-toe with the Obama administration over immigration, fighting the White House in the courtroom and becoming an early symbol of states' frustration with the White House. Published May 1, 2011
Feds sting Amish farmer selling raw milk locally
A yearlong sting operation, including aliases, a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and surreptitious purchases from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, culminated in the federal government announcing this week that it has gone to court to stop Rainbow Acres Farm from selling its contraband to willing customers in the Washington area. Published April 28, 2011
Spurned Democrats ready for second try
The House GOP's agenda has tilted so far right that it's creating opportunities for Democrats to try to reclaim seats they lost just a few months ago, said Ann Kirkpatrick, the first former member of Congress to announce that she would seek a rematch in 2012. Published April 26, 2011
Chairman speaks for Trump in ‘birther’ flap
New Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Tuesday that the GOP's potential presidential candidates such as Donald Trump have a right to make claims about President Obama's birth certificate, and he is not going to play referee as the party struggles to settle on a 2012 nominee. Published April 26, 2011
A year later, Ariz. immigration fight rages
It spawned myriad court challenges, calls to boycott this year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game and more than a dozen copycat proposals in other states — but the one thing Arizona's tough immigration law has not done is put anyone behind bars. Published April 21, 2011
2011 spending bill clears Congress
Crossing the finish line more than six months late, Congress on Thursday finally cleared a spending bill to fund government through the rest of the fiscal year, approving a hard-fought compromise that left neither side happy and that presaged more bruising fights ahead on deficit reduction. Published April 14, 2011
CBO: Spending deal cuts only $20 billion to $25 billion
Congress' chief scorekeeper said Thursday that the deal President Obama reached with Congress actually will lead to only $20 billion to $25 billion less in spending over the next five years — far short of the $37.7 billion leaders had claimed. Published April 14, 2011
Spending bill bears Democratic stamp
The final 2011 spending deal that Congress released Tuesday bears the fingerprints of Democrats far more than Republicans, whose effort to slash the federal deficit was swamped by President Obama's tenacious defense of spending programs. Published April 12, 2011
Appeals court stops Ariz. immigration law
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Arizona overstepped its bounds with last year's immigration enforcement law, handing the Obama administration another victory as it tries to squelch states' efforts on immigration enforcement. Published April 11, 2011
Obama administration plans budget blitz
Seeking to regain the initiative on spending cuts from House Republicans before Congress begins the 2012 budget and the debt-ceiling fights, President Obama later this week will lay out a plan to make real dents in the federal deficit, the White House said Sunday. Published April 10, 2011
Norton: Democrats sold out D.C. in spending deal
Washington's representative to Congress said Saturday she feels like the city was the victim of a "sellout" by Democrats in Friday night's spending negotiations after the District of Columbia was the focus for two of the biggest policy fights. Published April 9, 2011
Union says working during shutdown is unconstitutional
The country's largest federal employees union sued the government Friday, arguing it is unconstitutional to make millions of workers report for duty during a shutdown since there is no guarantee they will be paid later for the time they work. Published April 8, 2011
Shutdown deadline nears
With less than a few hours to go before a government shutdown Friday night, both parties made their last pleas for a spending agreement on their own terms, even as aides said leaders were trying to ready a short-term stopgap spending to try to buy more time. Published April 8, 2011
CBO: Feds run $189 billion deficit in March
The government ran a deficit of $189 billion in March alone, according to preliminary estimates — more than three times the $61 billion in spending cuts that have brought the government to the brink of a shutdown. Published April 7, 2011
Obama vows to veto short-term bill
High-stakes negotiations to head off a government shutdown went down to the wire Thursday night after President Obama rejected a last-minute bid by House Republicans to give the rest of the government a one-week reprieve on a shutdown. Published April 7, 2011
