Stephen Dinan

Mitch McConnell: Congress limited in ability to stop Trump’s Syria pullout

President Trump's troop withdrawal from Syria was "a mistake," the Senate's top Republican said Wednesday -- but he acknowledged there aren't many options for Congress to rope him in.

October 16, 2019

Trump used anti-Taliban funds to build border wall: Democrats

Congressional Democrats lashed out at President Trump on Wednesday over his border wall plans, saying they've learned he cut $129 million from funds to fight drug trafficking in Afghanistan and is spending it instead on the wall here at home.

October 16, 2019

Ken Cuccinelli: Birthright citizenship can be changed without amending Constitution

The government's citizenship chief said Wednesday that there's no need to amend the Constitution to stop automatic citizenship being granted to immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, though he said he's not sure whether President Trump could act alone or if it would take a law from Congress.

October 16, 2019

Congress struggles to counter Donald Trump on Syria

Lawmakers streamed back to Washington Tuesday determined to fight President Trump's troop pullout from Syria -- but they struggled to figure out exactly what they can do about it.

October 15, 2019

Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer set vote to rebuke Trump on Syria

Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill announced a bipartisan resolution Tuesday to rebuke President Trump for his decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria, and said it's time Republicans join them in spanking the president for reckless decisions.

October 15, 2019

Trump ‘emoluments’ case to be reheard by full federal appeals court

A federal appeals court agreed Tuesday to rehear a case in which Maryland and the District of Columbia accused President Trump of violating the Constitution by earning income from his hotels while in office.

October 15, 2019

Bernie Sanders’ plans would put half of U.S. on gov’t payrolls: Study

If a President Bernard Sanders got his way, taxpayers could be on the hook for a staggering $97.5 trillion in new spending over the next decade, according to an analysis Tuesday of the White House hopeful's plans.

October 15, 2019

ICE says New York defied deportation request to release child abuser

New York authorities released a convicted child abuser into the community, defying an ICE request that he be held for deportation, and he went on to be arrested for yet another case of abuse, federal officials said Tuesday.

October 15, 2019

Impeachment calls may cause gridlock on deals in House

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her troops will face that question head-on, with Democrats increasingly agitating for the impeachment route and President Trump and fellow Republicans saying that will squelch any chances at doing big bipartisan deals on legislation.

October 14, 2019

King County, Washington, officials shun ICE despite second sanctuary city-related killing

Prosecutors last week announced a second sanctuary city-related murder case involving an illegal immigrant in the Seattle area, but that has yet to shake local officials who despite the brutality of the slayings say they are not yet ready to begin working with ICE.

October 14, 2019

Andrew Brunson, former Turkey ‘hostage,’ to pray at U.S. Senate on Tuesday

Andrew Brunson, the American pastor who was held captive in Turkey sparking a row between that country and the U.S., will deliver the opening prayer in the Senate on Tuesday.

October 14, 2019

Trump immigration agenda in peril after rulings, Kevin McAleenan departure

President Trump had been on a winning streak on immigration, but that progress is suddenly imperiled after a series of court setbacks and the departure of acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan, the architect of much of the recent success.

October 13, 2019

Trump broke law with border wall emergency, judge rules

President Trump's proclamation declaring a border wall emergency is illegal, a federal judge in Texas ruled Friday, throwing a new hurdle in front of the government's plans to build hundreds of miles of new barriers.

October 11, 2019

California bans private prisons in move that could dent ICE detention

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law Friday that will eventually ban privately operated prisons and jails, including immigration detention centers, in a move that could put a strain on Homeland Security's ability to hold illegal immigrants.

October 11, 2019

Federal judge nixes Trump plan for immigrants to be self-sufficient, calls English test ‘offensive’

A federal judge on Friday blocked President Trump's new rules requiring immigrants to prove they can support themselves, calling the administration's plans "simply offensive."

October 11, 2019

Appeals court rules House can subpoena Trump financial records

A federal appeals court gave the OK Friday to House Democrats' subpoena demanding a trove of President Trump's financial documents from one of his accounting firms, in a ruling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi labeled "a major victory."

October 11, 2019

Illegal immigrant in hiding demands meeting with Democratic presidential candidates

An illegal immigrant who's been hiding in sanctuary in an Ohio church for the last two years said Friday she wants the Democratic presidential candidates, who are coming to the state for a debate next week, to come meet with her.

October 11, 2019

ICE ‘criminal alien’ arrests plummet amid border surge

Homeland Security's success in curbing the border crisis came at a cost: ICE saw its arrest numbers tumble over the last year, officials revealed Thursday, saying they had to pull personnel off their usual duties of tracking illegal immigrants and gangs to send them to the border.

October 10, 2019

Minority lawmakers say Trump takes their Pentagon money to build border wall

Racial and ethnic minority members of Congress complained Thursday that the Pentagon money being siphoned to build President Trump's border wall is coming "disproportionately" from their districts.

October 10, 2019

Border surge sends immigration court backlog soaring to nearly 1 million cases

Homeland Security opened 444,000 new immigration cases over the past year, sending the immigration court backlog soaring to nearly 1 million, officials announced Thursday.

October 10, 2019