Stephen Dinan

Senate immigration deal backtracks on border wall deadlines

Tucked inside the new Senate border deal is language that would allow President Biden to postpone wall-building, giving him a chance to avoid erecting any more barriers during this current term.

February 5, 2024

Immigration deal gets tepid thumbs-up from Border Czar Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris weighed in with her lukewarm backing Sunday for the new bipartisan border deal, saying she thinks it will give the administration "additional solutions."

February 5, 2024

Congress assails EPA over ‘disgusting’ decision to revive chemical animal testing

Members of Congress are pressing the Environmental Protection Agency over its renewed support for animal testing and its backsliding on rabbits that were supposed to be retired, saying the government must seek out more humane ways to do science.

February 5, 2024

Border deal expands legal immigration, new powers to expel illegal immigrants

Senators revealed a new border security deal Sunday that would give President Biden new powers to block illegal immigrants at the border, though only after the flow averages more than 4,000 migrants a day.

February 4, 2024

Senators reach for border deal, House prepares impeachment in momentous week for immigration

Senators were rushing to finalize a deal to stiffen border security Sunday evening ahead of what is shaping up as the most momentous week in immigration policy in Washington in nearly four decades.

February 4, 2024

Study tempers media, political hype of mass shootings; most in U.S. don’t involve ‘assault rifles’

The national gun control debate focuses heavily on AR-15-style rifles but most mass public shootings over the last 25 years have actually used handguns, according to new myth-busting data from the Crime Prevention Research Center.

February 4, 2024

Secretaries of state warn of chaos if justices allow state officials to deny Trump ballot access

State election officials are begging the Supreme Court to be wary of allowing states to kick former President Donald Trump off the ballot this year, saying that granting them that power threatens to create an electoral arms race of retaliation.

February 3, 2024

Justices settle who will argue Trump ballot case: Colorado secretary of state, voters both get time

The Supreme Court has settled a dispute between lawyers over who will argue in favor of disqualifying former President Trump from the ballot because of the Constitution's insurrection clause.

February 2, 2024

Feds charge New Jersey political operative with mail-in ballot fraud

Federal prosecutors announced charges Thursday against a New Jersey political operative they say orchestrated a mail-in ballot fraud scheme in the 2022 election, casting ballots in the name of people who never actually voted.

February 1, 2024

Sanctuary switch-up: New York governor now backs deportations for migrants who assaulted police

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul this week embraced deportation for the migrants who assaulted two New York City Police officers, challenging the logic of the city's sanctuary policy and drawing a rebuke from a former ICE director.

February 1, 2024

He’s mine: Lawyers looking to keep Trump off ballot arguing over who takes case to Supreme Court

Lawyers have been arguing over whether Donald Trump should be on the ballot this year -- and now they're arguing over who should get to argue about it before the Supreme Court.

February 1, 2024

Hunter Biden still has his law license. Trump alums ask D.C. to disbar him

America First Legal, a conservative nonprofit advocacy group, has filed a complaint asking the District of Columbia Bar to investigate whether Hunter Biden should lose his law license because of his illegal drug use and gun purchases and allegations about influence-peddling.

February 1, 2024

Pakistan’s deportation push strands Afghan refugees who worked with U.S.

Pakistan has forced nearly 500,000 Afghans to return home over the last four months, complicating life for Afghan refugees who worked with the U.S. and who were promised a special visa to rebuild their lives in America. Many of the refugees fled to Pakistan to try to connect with U.S. authorities and now find themselves thrown back into danger, one of the findings of a new U.S. government watchdog report being released Thursday.

February 1, 2024

GOP eyes Mayorkas impeachment vote next week, Speaker Johnson predicts it will pass

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday called border security the "No. 1 priority" for Republicans and said part of that is the looming vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

January 31, 2024

House committee gives first approval to Mayorkas impeachment

The House Homeland Security Committee gave initial approval Wednesday morning of articles on impeachment against Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, saying his mismanagement of the border should make him the first sitting Cabinet member ever to be impeached.

January 31, 2024

Mayorkas lashes out as Homeland Security committee works on impeachment

Brushing aside Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas's last-minute defense, House Republicans were poised Tuesday night to clear the first hurdle toward his impeachment with votes expected in a committee on two articles of impeachment.

January 30, 2024

GOP: Mayorkas getting same treatment as Trump, deserves impeachment for undermining immigration law

The House Homeland Security Committee kicked off an impeachment vote Tuesday against Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with Republicans saying they are holding him to the same standards Democrats used in their impeachments of Donald Trump.

January 30, 2024

Mayorkas lashes out at GOP ahead of first impeachment vote

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas erupted at congressional Republicans on Tuesday ahead of a first impeachment vote, saying he would not countenance "politically motivated accusations and personal attacks you have made against me."

January 30, 2024

GOP’s fury at ‘smug’ Homeland Security secretary fuels Mayorkas impeachment

House Republicans revealed articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday and scheduled a first vote for Tuesday. If the articles clear the Homeland Security Committee, where all Republican members say they will vote for it, it will move to the full House. Speaker Mike Johnson has promised speedy action.

January 29, 2024

IRS now accepting 2023 tax returns, promises better customer service after years of chaos

The IRS began accepting tax returns Monday as it opened the tax-filing season with a promise that taxpayers should see a much smoother experience, powered by a windfall of investments by President Biden and Congress.

January 29, 2024