Stephen Dinan

Biden’s army of IRS auditors falls victim to hiring woes, ambiguous marching orders

President Biden's vision for a supercharged IRS is running into the rough realities of hiring problems and difficulties in figuring out who should face more audits.

January 18, 2023

Heroin smugglers who used potato chip bags get 3-year prison sentence

Two Mexican women who smuggled heroin into the U.S. in bags of potato chips were slapped with three-year prison sentences.

January 18, 2023

Bad neighborhoods: 1% of counties responsible for 42% of America’s murders

Homicide rates have spiked, but most of America has remained untouched. Only a tiny fraction of U.S. counties account for nearly all of the country's homicides, according to research released Tuesday that showed a striking concentration where killings take place.

January 17, 2023

Republican majority off to speedy start with House bills, resolutions

While big clashes within the Republican Party and with President Biden have drawn most of the attention, rank-and-file Republicans have used their new majority to create a striking wish list.

January 16, 2023

Federal government hits debt limit, clock starts ticking on potential default

The federal government will bump up against its borrowing limit this week, the Treasury Department said, putting Congress on notice that it must approve an increase or risk Uncle Sam not being able to cover the bills.

January 13, 2023

Illegal immigrant gets 7-year sentence for attempted murder of Border Patrol agent

An illegal immigrant who snuck into the U.S. earlier this year was slapped Thursday with a prison sentence of more than 7 years for trying to murder a Border Patrol agent.

January 12, 2023

Feds announce election fraud charges against Iowa candidate’s wife

Federal prosecutors announced charges Thursday against an Iowa woman they say attempted to falsely register and then cast ballots in the names of dozens of residents to help her husband, a Republican, in his elections.

January 12, 2023

House Republicans eye vote to stop illegal immigrant voting in D.C.

A top House Republican announced legislation Thursday to stop the District of Columbia from allowing immigrants -- including some in the country illegally -- to cast ballots in local elections.

January 12, 2023

DHS slaps new limits on when Border Patrol can chase fleeing smugglers

The Department of Homeland Security announced a new vehicle-pursuit policy Wednesday that will severely limit when Border Patrol agents can pursue migrant smugglers.

January 11, 2023

New GOP majority tells House lawyers to cool the lawsuits

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy installed a new general counsel Wednesday and said he expects the chamber's lawyers to take a more reserved approach in weighing in on hot-button issues percolating in the courts.

January 11, 2023

GOP lawmaker files articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Mayorkas

A House Republican has filed the first articles of impeachment in the new Congress, targeting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to secure the southern border and then misleading lawmakers about his efforts.

January 11, 2023

Biden greets new GOP majority with rough talk and veto threat

It didn't take long for President Biden and the new House GOP majority to get off on the wrong foot.

January 11, 2023

House passes bill to cancel hiring of more IRS agents, stop new audits

Republicans flexed their new House majority to take a first swipe at President Biden on Monday, approving a bill that would claw back tens of billions of dollars from the IRS that Democrats had hoped would help the tax agency audit more Americans.

January 9, 2023

White House vows to veto first GOP bill on cutting IRS funding

The White House vowed Monday that President Biden would veto House Republicans' first bill, which would claw back tens of billions of dollars from the IRS.

January 9, 2023

Michigan paid $3.3B in pandemic unemployment to people with no work history

In a random sampling of 60 claims, auditors found a third of them showed suspicious assertions of self-employment that should have been followed up.

January 9, 2023

Biden visits border, sees more money as solution to chaos

President Biden took a walk Sunday along the border wall in El Paso, Texas, getting his first up-close look at the boundary that has bedeviled his administration with two years of unprecedented chaos and saying the solution is more money.

January 8, 2023

Texas governor hand-delivers letter demanding Biden secure the border

The Republican governor accused Mr. Biden of having "sanitized" the city by ousting migrants who had been swamping the city streets, trying to lessen the visual impact of the surge of illegal immigration.

January 8, 2023

12 terrorism suspects nabbed sneaking across southern border, according to DHS data

Border Patrol agents caught 12 illegal immigrants in November whose names popped on the terrorism watchlist, according to new data revealed this week by the Department of Homeland Security.

January 6, 2023

IRS completes pandemic unemployment refunds, pays $15 billion back to taxpayers

The IRS said Friday that it has finished repaying nearly 12 million taxpayers who overpaid on their 2020 returns after getting unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

January 6, 2023

Federal contractor pleads guilty to helping Afghans cheat to immigrate to U.S.

A federal contractor pleaded guilty this week to forging bogus recommendation letters for Afghans, helping them portray themselves as allies who aided the American war effort and who deserved to win special visas to reach the U.S.

January 6, 2023