Stephen Dinan

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

Senate Democrats want to see more evidence that the FBI illegally spied on GOP lawmakers

Senate Democrats on Tuesday said they wanted to see more evidence that President Biden's FBI spied on Republican lawmakers before they would believe there was wrongdoing.

October 7, 2025

Attorney General Bondi challenges Democrats to let go of ‘hate’ for Trump

Attorney General Pam Bondi blasted Democrats on Tuesday for the current government shutdown, accusing them of allowing an overriding hatred of President Trump to leave her law enforcement agents patrolling their cities without getting paid for it.

October 7, 2025

Federal appeals court dispute tests limits of Supreme Court pro-LGBTQ workplace ruling

A case winding its way through the federal courts could test the limits of the Supreme Court's ruling that allowed employees to sue over transgender discrimination.

October 7, 2025

WATCH: Supreme Court skeptical of Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ children

Colorado's law banning "conversion therapy" for children confounded the Supreme Court on Tuesday, with justices saying it seemed to shut down speech that would normally be protected by the First Amendment.

October 7, 2025

Best border in 55 years: DHS nabs fewer than 240,000 illegal immigrants at southwest boundary

The Border Patrol has just completed its best fiscal year since 1970 when it comes to the southern border, where agents seized fewer than 240,000 people trying to sneak in across the Mexican boundary.

October 7, 2025

Grassley reveals more ‘weaponization’ at FBI, including 2017 attempt to probe Trump

The Senate's senior Republican revealed new documents Tuesday that he said show more "weaponization" by the FBI against President Trump and his allies, including one that details an effort soon after the 2017 inauguration to find information that "could predicate a case."

October 7, 2025

Street gang placed ‘hit’ on senior Trump immigration official, DHS says

The Latin Kings street gang in Illinois placed a bounty on a senior Border Patrol official who has been instrumental in the administration's attempt to surge arrests and deportations in big cities, government officials said Monday.

October 6, 2025

Chicago declares ‘ICE-free’ zones as city escalates feud with Trump

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an order Monday creating what he called "ICE-free zones" in his city, where federal agents are forbidden from staging to carry out immigration arrests.

October 6, 2025

Supreme Court returns to the bench for new term, rejects dozens of legal battles on first day

The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear arguments in Missouri's effort to declare itself a "gun sanctuary" where federal firearms restrictions do not apply. That was one of dozens of cases the high court refused to add to its docket on the first day of its new term.

October 6, 2025

Illinois Democrats escalate confrontation with Trump’s ICE sweeps, National Guard deployments

Illinois officials made a bid for sanctuary supremacy Monday with Chicago's mayor signing an executive order declaring city property to be "ICE-free zones," and the city and state suing to block President Trump from sending in the National Guard to quell anti-ICE protests.

October 6, 2025

Senate chairman to investigate judges’ use of AI after courts issued botched rulings

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley opened a probe into two federal district judges who had to retract opinions this summer amid allegations that the rulings were plagued with errors from using artificial intelligence.

October 6, 2025

Supreme Court rejects Missouri’s bid to defend gun sanctuary law

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Missouri's case that sought to declare the state a gun sanctuary that negates federal firearms restrictions.

October 6, 2025

Judge issues new order blocking Trump from bringing out-of-state troops to Oregon

A federal judge issued a new restraining order late Sunday barring the Trump administration from deploying other states' National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, moving to head off President Trump's end-run around a previous order.

October 6, 2025

Trump to send 300 National Guard troops into Chicago after more violent clashes

President Trump authorized the deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Chicago this weekend to safeguard federal agents fighting crime and enforcing immigration law in the city, which has resulted instead in riots against the crackdown.

October 5, 2025

Agents shoot woman accused of ‘ambush’ vehicle attack on Border Patrol in Chicago

Federal immigration agents shot at a woman they say was attempting to use her vehicle to run down officers in the Chicago area on Saturday.

October 5, 2025