Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Former Gov. O’Malley promises to modernize Social Security agency
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley told senators on Thursday he's ready to hang up his political spurs and oversee a major modernization at the Social Security Administration, calling the agency's current level of customer service "unacceptable." Published November 2, 2023
DHS let employees download risky apps to government phones
An inspector general issued an alert Thursday to Homeland Security saying one of its key immigration agencies is so lax in policing use of mobile devices that adversary nations could track agents or steal their data. Published November 2, 2023
Supreme Court to hear case brought by ‘poster child’ for gun control, advocates say
Zackey Rahimi is an odd choice to be the face of the gun rights movement. Published November 1, 2023
FBI arrests Cornell student suspected of threatening to kill Jewish students
The FBI on Tuesday arrested a Cornell University student who authorities believe was behind a series of threats to kill Jewish students at the school. Published October 31, 2023
Special agents yanked off child trafficking cases to make sandwiches for migrants at border
A whistleblower has told Congress that special agents at Homeland Security Investigations have been pulled off cases involving child traffickers and sexual exploitation and been deployed to the border to make sandwiches for illegal immigrants. Published October 31, 2023
DHS assessing legality of deporting foreign students who cheered Hamas
Homeland Security is evaluating whether it has the legal authority to deport students here on visas who praised Hamas and urged the eradication of Israel after the Oct. 7 sneak attack. Published October 31, 2023
Mayorkas ducks questions on pro-Hamas employee; Hawley calls him ‘despicable’
Sen. Josh Hawley unloaded on Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday after the Homeland Security secretary said he has not fired the pro-Hamas employee who worked at his department and declined to tell Congress what kind of cases she handled as an asylum officer. Published October 31, 2023
FBI says terrorism threat hits ‘a whole other level’ after Hamas attack
Terrorist threats against the U.S. reached "a whole other level" after the Hamas attack on Israel, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told Congress on Tuesday, saying the big players in terrorism have all renewed calls to attack America and its interests. Published October 31, 2023
Mayorkas to face tough questions about conducting business using private email
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will face Congress on Tuesday with a host of pressing questions about terrorism and border security -- but one senator also plans to challenge him on his use of a private email to conduct government business. Published October 31, 2023
Mayorkas’ border bet fails as illegal immigration rises
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas began 2023 with a bet: He figured if he gave illegal immigrants a chance to schedule their arrivals, he could get them to come in an "orderly" fashion through airports and official crossings and stop sneaking into the U.S. Published October 30, 2023
Judge orders Biden administration to stop cutting holes in Texas’ border fence
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday barring the Biden administration from cutting holes in Texas' border defenses except in cases of severe medical emergency. Published October 30, 2023
Federal pandemic assistance helped Americans pay off credit card debt
Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Give him a stimulus check and he'll pay off some credit card debt. Published October 30, 2023
Speaker Mike Johnson’s Christian faith: ‘We build walls because we love the people on the inside’
House Speaker Mike Johnson's faith in action would be familiar to many people in middle America, but it has shocked the Washington establishment. Published October 29, 2023
IRS agents use fake names to ‘harass and intimidate’ taxpayers, report reveals
The IRS allows its agents to use fake names when they contact taxpayers, according to a congressional report Friday that found the pseudonyms can create a tense and potentially harassing system. Published October 27, 2023
U.S. debt payments soar to $659 billion while Congress aims for fiscal commission
Rising interest rates aren't just socking it to consumers, they're also tearing a hole in the federal budget. Published October 27, 2023
Ghost towns: Federal office buildings are 80% vacant, government audit finds
The Agriculture Department is headquartered at the gateway between Washington and Virginia in a building rich with history -- but on any given day, roughly 90% of it sits empty. Published October 26, 2023
‘Political infection’: Senior senator says FBI tampered with Biden family probes
More than 40 confidential sources were providing information to the FBI about the Biden family and they produced credible evidence of corruption, the Senate's most senior lawmaker said Wednesday. Published October 25, 2023
Feds forced to flee Nancy Pelosi’s namesake building in San Francisco over drugs, crime
Sen. Joni Ernst is calling for the government to pull the plug on the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco after its public spaces turned into a crime-ravaged open-air drug market that is so unsafe government employees were ordered to work from home. Published October 25, 2023
U.S. government’s Voice of America orders reporters not to call Hamas ‘terrorists’
Voice of America, the government's taxpayer-funded news media operation, instructed its reporters last week to stop calling Hamas terrorists. Published October 25, 2023
Activists seethe as Democrats pivot on border, work to stem flow of migrants to overrun cities
New York Mayor Eric Adams, greeting the first busload of migrants from Texas, declared in the summer of 2022 that the city was ready with a helping hand for "every asylum-seeker that comes to New York," and his administration worked with immigration activists to get the newcomers settled. Today, Mr. Adams says his city is full. Published October 24, 2023
