Stephen Dinan

Democrats immigrant detention centers cuts derail shutdown talks

Negotiators working on a deal to avoid another government shutdown hit an impasse over the weekend after Democrats insisted on cutting the number of beds available at detention centers.

February 10, 2019

Illegal immigration on Mexico border on pace for worst since 2007

Illegal immigration across the southwest border is on pace for the worst year since 2007 -- or the last time the country began a massive wall-building spree -- according to new Homeland Security numbers.

February 10, 2019

Walter B. Jones, maverick GOP congressman, dead at 76

Rep. Walter B. Jones, a 24-year veteran of Congress who built a record of maverick conservatism, died Sunday at the age of 76.

February 10, 2019

Virginia Democratic Party turns on Fairfax, demands resignation

The Virginia Democratic Party added its voice Saturday to the chorus calling for Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax to resign, saying he's lost the party's confidence.

February 9, 2019

Virginia Democrats add anti-Semitism accusation to party’s troubles

Ibraheem Samirah, Democrats' candidate in a special election for a state House seat later this month, apologized Friday for anti-Israel comments from earlier this decade, saying that while he made them, the fact that they are rising now is a "slander campaign."

February 8, 2019

Top Virginia Democrats demand Lt. Gov. Fairfax resign or face impeachment

Most of Virginia's congressional delegation on Friday called on Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax to resign his post, and a state delegate announced he will begin the impeachment process.

February 8, 2019

N.C. election official sentenced for urging Mexican citizen to vote in U.S.

Federal prosecutors won a two-month prison sentence against a North Carolina elections official who pushed a Mexican citizen to register and vote in the 2016 election.

February 8, 2019

House would uphold Trump veto on border wall emergency: Kevin McCarthy

If President Trump were to declare a border emergency and use the Pentagon to build his border wall, Congress wouldn't be able to muster the votes to block him, the top House Republican said Friday.

February 8, 2019

Cartels using mini-migrant caravans to sneak drugs into U.S.: Border official

Illegal immigration ticked down at the border in January, but officials said Friday the trends are still worrisome, with the number of families trying to sneak into the U.S. still near all-time highs.

February 8, 2019

Virginia House Democrats: Party’s troubles are problem for ‘all Americans’

Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates released a statement Thursday night saying that the racist behavior and rape allegations that have struck the state's top leaders -- all Democrats -- is troubling, but insisting it's not a partisan problem.

February 7, 2019

ICE, shut out of border talks, warns Democrats’ plans would free thousands of criminals

A briefer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stood outside the closed-door meeting Wednesday while negotiators working on a homeland security spending deal heard from border experts, who made their pitch for a border wall. The ICE briefer never made it in the room, an administration official said.

February 7, 2019

Matthew Whitaker subpoena approved by House Democrats

After a day of posturing, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and the House Judiciary Committee came to an understanding that paves the way for him to show up and testify Friday.

February 7, 2019

Pelosi: Virginia turmoil doesn’t affect national Democrats

The Democratic Party's leadership in Virginia is a mess, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday it doesn't taint the party's prospects at the national level.

February 7, 2019

Lindsey Graham: Blue slips won’t derail Trump appeals court picks

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said Thursday that he will honor the Senate's "blue slip" tradition for district court judges but not for appeals court nominees, giving Democrats a limited veto over President Trump's judicial picks.

February 7, 2019

Dems vote to approve subpoena for Trump AG Matthew Whitaker

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker says he's ready to testify Friday to the House Judiciary Committee -- but the panel's Democrats approved a subpoena anyway on Thursday, saying they wanted to put him on record that he could be punished if he doesn't answer all their questions.

February 7, 2019

Nogales, Arizona demands feds remove border fence barbed wire

A small border town in Arizona declared a public relations war on the Trump administration Wednesday, demanding the feds cut down miles of razor wire that have been attached to the border wall in recent weeks to try to increase security ahead of the migrant caravans.

February 6, 2019

Federal employees’ salaries: Tens of thousands make more than governor in state where they work

Federal employees are back on the job after the government shutdown -- and many are doing pretty well for themselves, according to a new report that shows nearly 92,000 of them make salaries that match or exceed the governors of the states where they work.

February 6, 2019