Stephen Dinan

Texas border law back on hold as appeals court doubts states’ power to deport illegal immigrants

A federal appeals court cast doubt Wednesday on Texas' stiff new immigration law that tries to create a state deportation system, with the judges suggesting it would trample on the federal government's prerogatives.

March 20, 2024

CBO: Republican spending deal improved Uncle Sam’s fiscal outlook

The federal budget is headed for a world of pain in the coming decades, the Congressional Budget Office projected Wednesday, but said things are looking a little better because of the spending cuts the GOP pressured President Biden into making last year.

March 20, 2024

Texas immigration law back on hold after late-night action by appeals court

A federal appeals court moved late Tuesday to erase a previous order that had allowed Texas' strict new anti-illegal immigration law to take effect, once again putting it on ice.

March 19, 2024

DHS praises ‘newly cooperative’ Montgomery County for honoring deportation ‘detainer’ requests

Montgomery County has honored two deportation "detainer" requests turning over illegal immigrants accused of sex abuse crimes, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

March 19, 2024

Supreme Court allows Texas’ stiff anti-illegal immigration law to take effect

The Supreme Court allowed Texas' new law creating state penalties for illegal immigration to go into effect after erasing a hold the justices had placed.

March 19, 2024

Supreme Court clears way for Muslim American to challenge No Fly List in lawsuit against FBI

The Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for a man to pursue a lawsuit against the FBI over its secret No Fly List, rejecting the bureau's attempts to shield the list from scrutiny.

March 19, 2024

Scammer who scattered victim’s body in San Francisco Bay and stole $3.9 million gets prison term

A California woman was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for scamming nearly $4 million from wealthy people, including one man whose body she crushed and dropped piece by piece in a bay to hide her theft of his estate.

March 19, 2024

IRS commissioner sees digital salvation for ‘iconically unpopular’ agency

Commissioner Daniel Werfel vowed to usher the IRS into a new digital nirvana, saying Monday that his vision is for Americans to be able to do all of their communication with the tax agency online without ever needing to call or send a letter.

March 18, 2024

Florida lawmakers ask Biden to send U.S. Navy to stop Haitian boat migrants

Congressional Republicans on Monday asked President Biden to authorize the U.S. Navy to blockade the Florida coast to stop an expected mass migration of people fleeing Haiti.

March 18, 2024

Supreme Court worries about limiting feds’ interactions with social media companies

Supreme Court justices seemed inclined Monday to give the government wide latitude to secretly pressure social media companies to silence dissenting voices, saying officials have the right to strenuously argue their case to the platforms.

March 18, 2024

Family of victim of illegal immigrant crime: ‘Our young women are at huge risk’

Wendy Corcoran, whose son was killed by an undocumented immigrant in a car crash in 2018, said she's worried many more families will experience the same heartbreak as she did.

March 18, 2024

Supreme Court allows New Mexico to bar local official over participation in Jan. 6 riot

The Supreme Court allowed New Mexico on Monday to block a man from holding any office by ruling he was part of an insurrection due to his participation in the mob assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

March 18, 2024

Smugglers selling access to Mayorkas’ ‘parole’ program for $5,000

Unauthorized migrants are being sold access to the Biden administration's "parole" program for as little as $5,000 in Nicaragua, The Washington Times has learned.

March 18, 2024

Migrant draws jail time for threatening to kill Biden, Trump

A Somali immigrant in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, was slapped with a three-year prison sentence Thursday for telling police he wanted to kill President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

March 16, 2024

Inside job: Feds arrest Social Security employee for pocketing dead people’s benefits

A Social Security employee has been arrested and charged with using her position to approve benefits for dead people and then directing the payments to herself.

March 15, 2024

Supreme Court says public officials can block social media followers in some cases

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that public officials have some flexibility in how they maintain their own social media accounts, even if they use them for government business, and that means they can delete comments and even block users in certain instances.

March 15, 2024

Supreme Court faces decision on feds strong-arming social media

Sen. Eric Schmitt says the key to derailing government censorship is to make the bureaucrats pay -- literally.

March 14, 2024

Federal audit dings Kamala Harris’ border czar plan to tackle ‘root cause’ of illegal immigration

A U.S. project to derail illegal immigration from Central America -- part of Vice President Kamala Harris' border czar portfolio -- is poorly staffed and prone to fraud, the government's comptroller general said in a new report Thursday.

March 14, 2024

Biden’s border goes green with zero-emission crossings

The Biden administration is resisting wall construction, but it has found a border project it will support: a billion-dollar effort to make the entry points more environmentally friendly.

March 14, 2024

Feds keep paying out benefits to dead people; internal problems invite more fraud

Payments to dead people are one of the more infuriating aspects of government spending, especially when they involve bureaucratic bungling or outright fraud. But from disaster relief payments to farm subsidies, the government has trouble sorting out when it's paying someone who's already gone.

March 13, 2024