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Articles by Stephen Dinan

FILE – In this Nov. 19, 2016 file photo, President-elect Donald Trump, left, and Betsy DeVos, right, pose for photographs at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster's clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J. Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich wrote a Jan. 24, 2017, letter urging confirmation of DeVos, Trump's education secretary nominee, without mentioning the significant unpaid fine owed to Ohio by a now-defunct political action committee she controlled. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Betsy DeVos wins confirmation as education secretary

Flexing their slim majority, Republicans powered President Trump's education secretary nominee through the Senate on Tuesday, with Vice President Mike Pence casting his first vote to break the tie and officially confirm Betsy DeVos.

February 7, 2017
U.S. President Donald Trump salutes a Marines honor guard as he disembarks from Marine One upon arrival at the White House in Washington in this Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, file photo. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Donald Trump lawyers say president has power to block foreign visitors

The White House said it is "absolutely not" backing down on President Trump's extreme vetting executive order as Justice Department attorneys asked an appeals court Monday to lift a restraining order that left the policy in limbo and sparked a major test of the new administration's powers.

February 6, 2017
The IRS leniency rate for employees who have been caught cheating on their taxes could be anywhere from 60 percent to 82 percent. (Associated Press)

IRS employees who cheated on their taxes allowed to keep jobs

More than half of IRS employees found to have intentionally cheated on their taxes last year were allowed to keep their jobs, according to numbers released by the inspector general that suggest the agency is still reluctant to punish its own staffers for breaking tax laws.

February 5, 2017
Attorney General-designate Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is surrounded by security as he walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to advance his nomination. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Jeff Sessions, Steven Mnuchin, Tom Price pass first test votes in Senate

President Trump's picks to lead the Justice, Treasury and Health and Human Services departments -- some of his most controversial nominations -- survived their first test votes on the Senate floor Thursday, putting each of them on track to win full confirmation over the next couple of weeks.

February 2, 2017
President Donald Trump listens as he is introduced during the National Prayer Breakfast, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Donald Trump budget pick clears hurdles; defense spending snag looms

Two Senate committees voted Thursday to approve President Trump's pick for budget director, setting up a floor showdown later this month on the man who will be tasked with doing the government reorganization and budget-cutting Mr. Trump called for in the campaign.

February 2, 2017
A crowd gathers on the State House lawn in Montpelier, Vt., Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, for a solidarity candlelight vigil in response to President Donald Trump's recent travel ban on refugees and citizens of certain majority-Muslim countries. (Jeb Wallace-Brodeur/The Times Argus via AP)

Judge Andre Birotte orders Donald Trump to end Muslim travel ban

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration this week to stop blocking travelers trying to reach the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries, delivering the latest and largest blow yet to the president's new extreme vetting policy.

February 1, 2017