Stephen Dinan

Donald Trump: ‘National emergency’ lets military build border wall

President Trump said Sunday that he is considering declaring border security a national emergency and triggering presidential powers that would allow him to assign the military to build his border wall, and he promised a decision based on how shutdown negotiations go.

January 6, 2019

Donald Trump ponders ‘emergency’ powers to build border wall

President Trump said Friday he could declare a national emergency on the border and order his government to build fencing without needing to go to Congress for additional funding.

January 4, 2019

Trump says he sees path to end shutdown, says wall must be built

President Trump said Friday he and Democratic leaders are finally making progress on ending the government shutdown, saying they're now "all on the same path" -- though he didn't reveal any specifics that gave him confidence.

January 4, 2019

Dems: No deal on border until government is reopened

Democratic leaders emerged from a White House meeting Friday to say they won't begin to negotiate on border security until the government shutdown is ended.

January 4, 2019

Glenn Grothman writes bill to allow crowdsourcing for border wall

A Wisconsin congressman announced legislation Friday to allow Americans to donate money to the government earmarked specifically to build President Trump's wall.

January 4, 2019

Pat Roberts of Kansas won’t run for re-election

Sen. Pat Roberts announced Friday he won't seek re-election in 2020, already giving Republicans a second vacancy to defend.

January 4, 2019

White House releases border briefing that Dems ‘did not want to hear’

The White House on Friday released the border briefing President Trump to get Democratic leaders to see during a meeting earlier this week, saying the public should see the information behind the president's case for why he wants a border wall.

January 4, 2019

Chuck Schumer: Donald Trump ‘is a terrible negotiator’

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer begged Republicans Friday to break with President Trump and vote to reopen the government without new border wall money, saying the president doesn't know how to negotiate.

January 4, 2019

House Democrats pass bill to end shutdown, reopen government

Using their new majority, House Democrats passed legislation Thursday to reopen the shuttered parts of the government -- but Senate Republicans said the moves are a non-starter, and the White House issued a veto threat as well, signaling the partial shutdown will go on.

January 3, 2019

Republicans relinquish Congress with whimper: ‘More missed opportunities than anything’

Republicans closed out two years of control over the political branches of Washington on Thursday with a whimper, leaving a government still in partial shutdown and a long list of priorities left undone.

January 3, 2019

White House vows veto on Democrats’ bill to end government shutdown without wall money

The White House issued a veto threat Thursday on Democrats' new bill to end the government shutdown, saying it shortchanged "the nation's urgent border security needs."

January 3, 2019

Brad Sherman, California Democrat, to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump

As Democrats take charge of the House at the start of the 116th Congress, one California lawmaker will introduce articles of impeachment against President Trump on Thursday.

January 3, 2019

Martin O’Malley rules out 2020 run at Trump

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said Thursday he's not going to make another run for president, saying his "usefulness as a candidate" has ended.

January 3, 2019

Democrats refuse to talk border security until shutdown ends

Democratic leaders emerged from a White House meeting Wednesday to say they are willing to talk border security but not until after Congress ends the partial government shutdown, signaling that more than a week away from Washington has only deepened the impasse.

January 2, 2019

Donald Trump’s crackdown on deportation deadbeat countries yields immediate results

While much of President Trump's immigration agenda remains tied up in the federal courts or stalemated in Congress, he has made extraordinary progress on recalcitrant countries like Sierra Leone, cutting the number of deadbeat countries from a peak of 23 in 2015 down to just nine as of last month.

January 2, 2019

Pelosi digs in as shutdown drags on; White House meeting ends without deal

Democratic leaders emerged from a White House meeting Wednesday to say they'll plow ahead with spending bills this week that have already been rejected by the GOP, signaling that a change in Congress doesn't mean a quick end to the government shutdown.

January 2, 2019

White House rejects Democrats’ shutdown bill, offers border briefing

President Trump has invited top members of Congress to attend a briefing Wednesday with border officials to school them on the need for a border fence, as he searches for a way out of the shutdown impasse.

January 2, 2019

Border Patrol agents repel migrant caravan ‘violent mob’ with tear gas

A "violent mob" of illegal immigrants tried to ring in the new year by rushing the border in California, and Border Patrol agents fired tear gas at them to repel the incursion, Homeland Security officials said Tuesday.

January 1, 2019

Obama judges order Justice Department lawyers to stay on immigration cases during shutdown

Judge Rudolph Contreras says the issues at stake in an immigration detention case before him are too important to let something like a partial government shutdown ruin his schedule.

January 1, 2019

Democrats announce plan to end shutdown, punt border battle into February

Democrats announced a plan Monday to try to reopen the government by passing a package of Senate-written bills to fund most remaining parts of government for all of 2019, coupled with stopgap funding through Feb. 8 for Homeland Security.

December 31, 2018