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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Chaffetz is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

GAO urges feds to crack down on bad spending, increase efficiency

From the unemployed double-dipping on benefits to federal agencies leasing cars they don't need, the federal government is still awash in waste and duplication, the comptroller general said in a new report Wednesday that urged all sides to get serious about cracking down on bad spending and making the government more efficient.

April 13, 2016
In this photo taken March 23, 2016, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. An aide to Ryan says the Wisconsin Republican will address reporters Tuesday, April 12, 2016, to formally rule out a run for president this year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Paul Ryan to GOP: I don’t want presidential nomination

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan flatly ruled out becoming the Republican presidential nominee this year, insisting Tuesday that he would refuse all entreaties to accept the role -- though he would try to shape the agenda that the party carries into November.

April 12, 2016
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican (Associated Press)

Hearing to prove Ted Cruz’s eligibility for New Jersey ballot

The New Jersey secretary of state has scheduled a hearing Monday to make Sen. Ted Cruz prove he is eligible to run for president under the Constitution, after a Washington-area law professor filed a challenge arguing his Canadian birth makes him ineligible.

April 10, 2016
Rep. Trey Gowdy (Associated Press/File)

Republicans in Congress win 2 fights for Obama transparency

Congressional Republicans had a benchmark day for transparency last week, winning battles in two long-simmering fights with President Obama, who had been shielding documents sought by Capitol Hill investigators in two big cases.

April 10, 2016
Jeff Sessions

H-1B visas quickly snatched up as critics decry lost American jobs, wages

All the country's visas for high-skilled workers were snatched up in the first week yet again this year, the government reported Thursday, signaling that companies' voracious appetites for cheap foreign workers remains unabated despite intense criticism on the presidential campaign trail.

April 7, 2016
Retired Sen. Tom Coburn said that those who perpetuated an operation that scammed Social Security funds deserve to "rot in jail." (Associated Press)

Social Security fraud ring busted by federal agents

Federal agents this week rounded up key figures from one of the biggest frauds in Social Security history, beginning to close out a scandal that forced the government to confront the extent of problems in its generous disability benefit programs.

April 5, 2016
"I am getting questions constantly from foreign leaders about some of the wackier suggestions that are being made," President Obama said, taking a sharp detour into the campaign to succeed him. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Obama says Donald Trump border-wall plan is ‘half-baked’

Donald Trump said he might try to withhold the payments illegal immigrants send back to Mexico to force that nation to pay for his border wall, sparking a vehement denunciation Tuesday from President Obama, who called the Republican presidential front-runner's plans "half-baked" and damaging to foreign relations.

April 5, 2016
Sen. Charles Grassley, Iowa Republican and the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking member (Associated Press) **FILE**

Chuck Grassley to meet with Merrick Garland

Sen. Charles E. Grassley will meet with Judge Merrick Garland, but only to tell him why he won't get a full hearing before the Judiciary Committee nor have his Supreme Court nomination considered by the Senate this year, Mr. Grassley's office said Monday.

April 4, 2016
In this photo taken Nov. 30, 2015, President Barack Obama meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Le Bourget, France. President Barack Obama will be meeting with Asian leaders in Washington this week as fears grow that long-smoldering tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the South China Sea could flare into conflict. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) **FILE**

Nuclear security summit offers Obama last chance to push China on human rights

The chairman of the House subcommittee on human rights says President Obama has a final chance to live up to his Nobel Peace Prize by confronting Chinese President Xi Jinping over the treatment of political prisoners, as the two leaders meet Thursday on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in Washington.

March 30, 2016