Stephen Dinan

Feds blew $3 trillion on ‘improper’ payments over the past 20 years

The federal government has made nearly $3 trillion in "improper" payments over the past two decades, including a quarter-trillion in bogus payments last year alone, according to a new report Tuesday.

June 12, 2023

$1 trillion deficit a sobering reality for big-spending feds as revenue drops

Uncle Sam's income has plummeted this year, sending the federal deficit spiraling deeper into the red than analysts had predicted and leaving officials grasping for answers.

June 12, 2023

Illegal immigrants stream into airports as Biden plans kick in

America's airports have become the latest frontline in the border as illegal immigrants pour in by the tens of thousands each month, bypassing the U.S.-Mexico boundary and landing deep in the country's heartland.

June 11, 2023

House Homeland Security chairman scolds DHS for missing Afghan vetting deadline

The House Homeland Security Committee whacked the Biden administration Friday for missing the deadline to turn over documents detailing how tens of thousands of Afghans were vetted before they were allowed to reach the U.S. during the 2021 airlift.

June 9, 2023

House committee opens probe into DHS Secretary Mayorkas over ‘dereliction of duty’

The House Homeland Security Committee announced an investigation Thursday into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for "dereliction of duty," in what could be the first concrete steps toward impeachment.

June 8, 2023

GOP probes use of air marshals, Secret Service at the border

House Republicans launched a probe Thursday into Homeland Security's move to shift some 1,400 department employees to the border last month, saying the department is risking national security by pulling air marshals and Secret Service agents from their regular duties to help process migrants.

June 8, 2023

Supreme Court: Alabama violated Voting Rights Act by drawing only one Black congressional district

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Alabama to adopt a congressional map that includes two majority-Black districts, saying the current map violates the Voting Rights Act because it unfairly dilutes the power of the state's Black residents.

June 8, 2023

Newsom seeks gun change in Constitution; convention calls come with risks

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday called for the country to adopt an amendment to the Constitution that would challenge the core of the Second Amendment by writing new gun controls into the government's founding document.

June 8, 2023

Pandemic policy that won’t die: DHS keeps shorter border hours despite end of emergency

President Biden has declared the pandemic over, but some of the country's northern border crossings into Canada have been slow to get the word.

June 7, 2023

Senior DHS official says border is not ‘a success’

Homeland Security's assistant secretary for the border said Tuesday that the chaos that's reigned on the U.S.-Mexico boundary has not been "a success," as he faced a grilling from congressional Republicans who said he's running a "shell game" to hide just how bad conditions are.

June 6, 2023

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says U.S. is ‘not a safe country’ for migrants

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene blasted the Biden administration for opening its doors to illegal immigrants fleeing poverty, violence or the effects of climate change, saying the U.S. isn't a safe country in those respects.

June 6, 2023

DHS says border ‘is working as intended’ after Title 42

The Homeland Security Department said it has "repatriated" roughly 1,700 illegal immigrants per day since the end of Title 42, or less than 40% of the unauthorized migrants showing up at the southern border in recent weeks.

June 6, 2023

DHS says nurse refused family’s requests for medical treatment; 8-year-old migrant died

Homeland Security is blaming contract medical personnel for bungling the handling of an 8-year-old migrant girl who died in Border Patrol custody last month.

June 1, 2023

McCarthy credited for debt-ceiling win after leading House members through difficult bipartisan vote

In the face of their parties' loud opposition to the debt ceiling bill, House Republicans and Democrats cast their votes to pull the legislation across the finish line.

June 1, 2023

Wuhan virus lab got more U.S. money than previously reported

The Wuhan lab at the center of speculation about the origins of the coronavirus received four different grants of money from the U.S. government over the past decade, according to new research released Wednesday.

May 31, 2023

Border Patrol chief to retire amid border chaos

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz will retire at the end of next month, leaving the agency after overseeing the most chaotic border in modern American history.

May 30, 2023

Inspector general asks for more time, money to probe pandemic unemployment fraud

The Labor Department's inspector general said Tuesday it will soon run out of its infusion of pandemic cash and will have to trim its investigation into the fraudsters who stole tens of billions of dollars from the unemployment benefit system.

May 30, 2023

Trump vows to end birthright citizenship through executive order

Former President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday to sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship if he makes it back to the White House.

May 30, 2023

Confidently incorrect: For ChatGPT, the truth isn’t always out there

ChatGPT may be a modern marvel of computer engineering and a shockingly good practitioner of the English language -- but don't expect it to actually be correct.

May 29, 2023

How did hundreds of noncitizens end up on Chicago’s voter rolls?

Hundreds of noncitizens have been kicked off Chicago's voter rolls after admitting they were never supposed to have been registered in the first place, according to a new study that blames the Motor Voter Act for how the names got added in the first place.

May 29, 2023