Stephen Dinan

Senate heads off filibuster on defense bill

The Senate early Friday headed off a Republican filibuster on the final spending bill of the year, clearing the way both for the bill's passage and for the final end-game on a health care bill. Published December 18, 2009

Lawmakers renew immigration-reform push

Tossing another hot potato on the 2010 congressional schedule, top Hispanic Democrats outlined Tuesday a major immigration-reform proposal that is more generous to illegal immigrants than the last two bills that failed to make it into law in the past three years. Published December 16, 2009

Immigration bill backers try again despite jobless rate

Democrats on Tuesday begin their new push for an immigration bill, hamstrung by the image of legalizing millions of illegal immigrant workers at a time when the unemployment rate stands at 10 percent -- more than twice what it was the last time Congress tried to act. Published December 15, 2009

GOP to replicate anti-Pelosi Ky. race

From the direct-mail literature featuring picture after picture of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, you would have thought Jimmy Higdon was running for Congress in last week's special election in Kentucky, not a state Senate seat. Published December 15, 2009

Democrat seeks veto on spending bill

A Senate Democrat on Monday called on President Obama to veto the $1.1 trillion catchall spending bill Congress sent the White House over the weekend, saying the president must "take the credit card away from the politicians who just want to spend, spend, spend." Published December 14, 2009

Senate sends $1.1T pork-laden bill to Obama

The Senate on Sunday sent President Obama another hot potato, passing a $1.1 trillion catchall spending bill that includes money needed to run dozens of government agencies but also is loaded with pork-barrel spending. Published December 14, 2009

Immigration database adding self-check option

U.S. immigration authorities are planning to add a self-check system so workers can pre-screen themselves with E-Verify, the controversial electronic database used on a voluntary basis by some employers to screen their employees. Published December 11, 2009

McCain, Coburn antsy over stimulus ‘waste’

Republican senators said Tuesday the nearly $1 million in stimulus money being spent to study the division of labor among ants and the $400,000 spent to catalog Buffalo, N.Y., residents' drinking and drug habits are proof that President Obama's $787 billion economic recovery program is filled with waste. Published December 9, 2009

Dems campaign against Afghan surge

President Obama's planned troop surge is proving to be a rallying point for some Democrats - although most are blasting his stance on boosting the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. Published December 8, 2009

Hoyer blasts GOP as ‘Party of No’

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Republicans have failed the test of leadership by refusing to come to the table on the big issues facing the country. Published December 8, 2009

Dems want temporary ‘don’t ask’ immunity

Frustrated by the lack of action to overturn the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Congressional Democrats are calling for at least temporary immunity so gay service members can testify about their experiences. Published December 4, 2009

Democrats win $400B in Medicare cuts

In the first showdown over the Senate health care bill, Democrats on Thursday successfully defended more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts, turning back a potentially lethal stab at the measure. Published December 4, 2009

Researcher: NASA hiding climate data

The fight over global warming science is about to cross the Atlantic with a U.S. researcher poised to sue NASA, demanding release of the same kind of climate data that has landed a leading British center in hot water over charges it skewed its data. Published December 3, 2009

Global warming controversy reaches NASA climate data

The fight over climate science is about to cross the Atlantic with a U.S. researcher poised to sue NASA, demanding the release of the same kind of information that landed a leading British center in hot water over charges that it skewed its data. Published December 3, 2009

Health bills fail to block illegals from coverage

Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants could receive health care coverage from their employers under the bills winding their way through Congress, despite President Obama's explicit pledge that illegal immigrants would not benefit. Published November 30, 2009

Grayson’s Senate filibuster petition faulted

Rep. Alan Grayson, Florida Democrat, is trying to make it easier to prevent Senate filibusters, arguing that President George W. Bush got better treatment than President Obama is getting. Published November 28, 2009

Climate czar rejects doctored data claims

Obama administration climate czar Carol Browner on Wednesday rejected claims that e-mails stolen from a British university show that climate scientists trumped up global-warming numbers, saying she considers the science settled. Published November 26, 2009

Obama to unveil Afghan plans at West Point

President Obama will lay out his strategy on Afghanistan on Tuesday in an address to the nation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., the White House said Wednesday. Published November 26, 2009

Climate ‘czar’ says hacked e-mails don’t change anything

Obama administration climate czar Carol Browner on Wednesday rejected claims that e-mails stolen from a British university show climate scientists trumped up global warming numbers, saying she considers the science settled. Published November 25, 2009

Obama to outline war plan at West Point

President Obama will lay out his strategy on Afghanistan Tuesday in an address to the nation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the White House said Wednesday. Published November 25, 2009