Stephen Dinan

EXCLUSIVE: Forest fire funds aid D.C. festivals

The U.S. Forest Service this week announced it will spend nearly $2.8 million in forest-fire-fighting money in Washington — a city with no national forests and where the last major fire was probably lit by British troops in 1814. Published September 11, 2009

Obama asks Congress to pass health bill

Seizing control of the health care debate, President Obama implored feuding lawmakers Wednesday night to pass a plan that would require Americans to buy insurance and all companies to help cover the costs. Published September 10, 2009

Public option not only hurdle

The fight over a public insurance option has grabbed all the attention, but President Obama's health care plan faces plenty of other obstacles, from the price tag to ideological battles over immigration and abortion to questions over who would be kicked off their current plans. Published September 10, 2009

Pro-reform doctor wants critics to forgo Medicare

Oppose a government health care plan? A Jackson, Miss., doctor wants you to put your convictions on the line by burning your mother's Medicare card. Published September 7, 2009

Delta residents deal with lack of insurance

Bad economic times, coupled with the traditional agriculture-based economy, mean many businesses in the Mississippi Delta simply don't offer coverage to their workers. The solutions, however, are not as easy to pinpoint. Published September 6, 2009

GOP urges Rangel to give up post

With accusations of tax evasion mounting against Rep. Charles B. Rangel, the top House Republican on Friday called for the New York Democrat to step aside as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Published September 5, 2009

Senate’s liberal lion falls to cancer at 77

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a one-time presidential hopeful and nine-term senator who evolved from the overshadowed youngest son to the patriarch of the country's most famous political dynasty, died late Tuesday. Published August 27, 2009

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy dies at 77

It boggles the mind to imagine the decisions that were reached behind the closed doors of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's hideaway, the private office he kept near the Senate chamber. Published August 26, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: House quietly gives ‘bonuses’ to top aides

Members of the House of Representatives quietly gave their own staffers a potential bonus by making even their top-earning aides eligible for taxpayer dollars to repay their student loans. Published August 25, 2009

Fresh fight looms over immigration

With President Obama putting off the immigration reform debate until next year, immigrant rights groups are pushing the administration to suspend tough enforcement practices so illegal immigrants aren't punished under the current system. Published August 18, 2009

Pace of stimulus spending plummets

Stimulus bill spending has slowed to a trickle, despite President Obama's June order to his Cabinet to speed it up. Published August 14, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: Bill requires doubling nuke use

To satisfy House Democrats' low-cost solution to global warming, Americans would have to double their reliance on nuclear energy by 2030. Published August 12, 2009

Obama puts off immigration bill

President Obama said Monday that Congress would not be able to pass an immigration bill until next year, acknowledging that more pressing items on his agenda have crowded out the issue. Published August 11, 2009

Prospects dim for Mexican firearms treaty

President Obama's call for the Senate to ratify a hemispheric small-firearms treaty dominated his last visit to Mexico, but in the four months since, both the treaty pledge and the drug violence that prompted it have dropped off the radar - a victim of Congress' full schedule and gun politics. Published August 9, 2009

Sotomayor confirmed to Supreme Court

Making history by breaking another color barrier, the Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor as the nation's first Hispanic, third woman and 111th justice in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. Published August 7, 2009

3 states scolded for unspent stimulus funds

Florida has done the worst at spending stimulus bill transportation money, with only 2 percent of its available highway construction money being used already, according to a congressional study. Published August 7, 2009

Florida lags in using transportation funds

Florida has done the worst at spending stimulus bill transportation money, with only 2 percent of its available highway money being used already on construction projects, according to a congressional study. Published August 6, 2009

Senate confirms Sotomayor

Breaking another color barrier, Sonia Sotomayor won overwhelming Senate approval Thursday to become the first Hispanic and third woman justice on the Supreme Court. Published August 6, 2009

Fed study: Climate bill spells gloom for jobs

Despite President Obama's prediction that it would create new jobs, the climate change bill passed by the House will mean fewer jobs by 2030 than if Congress did nothing at all, according to the first comprehensive study of the measure by the federal government. Published August 5, 2009

Government study: climate bill could cost jobs

Despite President Obama's prediction that it will create new jobs, the global warming bill passed by the House of Representatives will mean fewer jobs by 2030 than if Congress did not act at all, according to the first comprehensive study of the measure by the federal government. Published August 4, 2009