Stephen Dinan

Trump’s tariffs helped tame deficit in 2025, brought in $118 billion in new money

President Trump's tariffs have helped tame the federal deficit, the Treasury Department reported Thursday, with an extra $118 billion in customs revenue limiting the damage from surging federal spending.

October 16, 2025

Migrant was serving illegally as cop in Illinois: DHS

Homeland Security's deportation agency on Thursday said it arrested a Montenegro man who is in the country illegally but was sworn in this past summer as a police officer in the Chicago suburbs.

October 16, 2025

Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration’s federal layoffs during shutdown

A federal judge ordered the administration Wednesday to halt its firing of federal employees during the government shutdown, saying it was ill-conceived and executed.

October 15, 2025

Supreme Court poised to redraw part of Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court plowed into the thorniest of political issues Wednesday as the justices sought to sort out how much -- if at all -- states and judges can use race when they address discrimination in how congressional and state legislative district maps were drawn.

October 15, 2025

Cartels place bounties on U.S. immigration officers: DHS

Mexican cartels are behind at least some of the bounties placed for information or attacks on ICE and CBP personnel, Homeland Security said Tuesday, citing "credible intelligence."

October 14, 2025

Supreme Court to hear Louisiana congressional district map dispute over race

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has traveled a circuitous path to the U.S. Supreme Court, where her office this week will argue that the 60-year-old Voting Rights Act should not promote Black voters' interests over those of others.

October 14, 2025

Senator’s bill would ban judges from considering gender identity in sentencing decisions

Sen. Tom Cotton announced legislation Tuesday to bar judges from using a convict's gender identity or transition status to deliver watered-down prison sentences.

October 14, 2025

Trump’s NIH plows ahead with bat lab to fuel virus research in U.S.

The Trump administration is moving to wind down many taxpayer-funded animal experiments, but a controversial bat virus lab in Colorado is still powering forward with a new infusion of millions of dollars.

October 14, 2025

IRS has a bizarre habit of hanging up on callers

The IRS can't seem to stop hanging up on taxpayers, according to a new audit by the agency's inspector general, which monitored hundreds of customer service calls and found that in 15% of them, the connection was broken before the conversation was completed.

October 13, 2025

DHS reveals grand plan for border: 1,422 miles of wall along Mexico boundary

The Department of Homeland Security on Friday revealed its ambitious Smart Wall plans for the U.S.-Mexico border, with fences stretching 1,422 miles along the boundary, more than double the current length, with sensor technology to protect the remaining area too rugged for a wall.

October 10, 2025

N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James indicted on fraud charge

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who once brought a business fraud case against President Trump, was indicted Thursday in federal court on fraud charges apparently related to a mortgage application she filed on a home in Virginia.

October 9, 2025

Biden judge blocks National Guard deployment to Illinois as ‘political retribution’

A federal judge put President Trump's National Guard troop deployment to Illinois on hold Thursday, saying the administration appears to have overstepped its powers.

October 9, 2025

Judge tells feds to restrict use of tear gas, other riot controls in Illinois

A federal judge ordered federal agencies to be more selective in their use of tear gas and other riot control tools to combat protests that have raged in Illinois.

October 9, 2025

Judiciary chairman says impeachment is ‘on the table’ for anti-Trump judges

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said impeachment of judges who issue "stupid" rulings thwarting President Trump is "on the table," though he said Congress needs to explore other options first.

October 9, 2025

Appeals court allows Trump to federalize National Guard troops but not deploy them yet

A federal appeals court gave President Trump temporary permission to federalize National Guard troops in Oregon, but said he remains barred from actually deploying them.

October 8, 2025

Uncle Sam ends fiscal year 2025 $1.8 trillion in the red

The federal government will tally a deficit of $1.8 trillion for the just-completed fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office projected Wednesday.

October 8, 2025

Trump calls for jailing of Illinois leaders over ICE showdown

President Trump on Wednesday called for the arrest of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration enforcement agents.

October 8, 2025

Chicago-area prosecutor warns Trump’s immigration surge scared away victims from testifying in cases

At least one murder case and multiple sexual assault and domestic violence prosecutions are being endangered because of the heavy presence of immigration officers seeking to arrest illegal immigrants at a courthouse in Chicago, a prosecutor said.

October 8, 2025

Justices eye letting candidates challenge states that change voting rules

The Supreme Court seemed poised Wednesday to embrace new rules that would give candidates for federal office the chance to challenge election rules in court well before the voting takes place -- a move that could give Republicans more room to confront Democratic states' mail-in ballot laws.

October 8, 2025

National Guard arrives in Illinois as Trump pursues crime crackdown

The first contingent of President Trump's call-up of National Guard troops arrived in Illinois on Tuesday as the administration pushes to crack down on crime in some of the country's major cities.

October 7, 2025