Stephen Dinan

Warning: Feds now foresee $30 trillion debt, blame looming tax hikes and Obamacare

The federal government will be flirting with $30 trillion in debt within a decade, the Congressional Budget Office reported Monday, blaming an aging population, new spending and tax cuts approved on Capitol Hill, and the growing burden from Obamacare for erasing the progress Washington had made over the past few years.

January 25, 2016

State Dept. accused of political tampering in delay of Clinton emails

The reporter whose case has forced the release of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails accused the Obama administration Monday of political tampering by asking to delay making the final set of messages public until after the first four states have already voted in the Democratic presidential primary.

January 25, 2016

Government background checks still don’t require review of social media profiles

The Obama administration has announced a new set of rules for government background checks -- but still doesn't require a review of applicants' social media profiles, leaving the government well behind the private sector in vetting high-risk employees.

January 24, 2016

Hillary Clinton email release delay sought in wake of blizzard

The House canceled all business for this week because of the snowstorm, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Sunday as the disruption of official Washington business looked to continue for some time.

January 24, 2016

Democrats’ attempt to force disclosure of campaign donors foiled by court

A federal appeals court shot down Democrats' effort to try to force groups that engage in political spending to disclose all of their donors, issuing a ruling Thursday that upheld the right to anonymous speech.

January 21, 2016

DHS ends visa waivers for terrorism countries; Iranian travelers granted leniency

The Obama administration announced a special carve-out Thursday for Iranian business travelers, granting them a potential exemption from a new law designed to make sure foreign fighters tied to the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations can't get into the United States.

January 21, 2016

TSA seizes record number of firearms in 2015

TSA screeners seized more than 2,600 firearms from carry-on luggage in 2015, the airport security agency said Thursday, acknowledging the dubious new record as it announced its year-end totals.

January 21, 2016

Illegal immigrants who overstay visas rarely investigated

The federal government doesn't investigate 99 percent of illegal immigrants who entered the country legally but overstayed their visas, Homeland Security officials told the Senate on Wednesday, exposing what critics said was a giant loophole in immigration enforcement and national security.

January 20, 2016

Democrats filibuster to defend Obama’s Syrian refugees

Brushing aside new fears of terrorists exploiting the refugee program, Senate Democrats on Wednesday successfully defended President Obama's plans to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees this year, saying the U.S. cannot turn its back on its obligation to help the needy.

January 20, 2016

Pentagon wasted millions trying to rebuild Afghanistan: Internal report

The Defense Department poured hundreds of millions of dollars into boondoggle development programs in Afghanistan without caring how much they would cost, a government watchdog said Wednesday in a damning report that portrays a culture of carelessness at the top levels of the Pentagon.

January 20, 2016

Visa overstays swell ranks of illegals as 500,000 broke the law in 2015

More than 500,000 visitors overstayed their visas in fiscal year 2015, the Homeland Security Department said in a report released Tuesday night that signals the problems of illegal immigration extend well beyond the land borders and include the millions of people who enter by air or sea.

January 19, 2016

Bernie Sanders nearly doubling up Hillary Clinton in latest New Hampshire poll

Sen. Bernard Sanders is nearly doubling up Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, extending his lead in the polls to 60 percent versus her 33 percent, according to the latest CNN/WMUR survey Tuesday evening.

January 19, 2016

Federal deficit to soar in 2016 after Ryan-Obama tax deal

The federal budget deficit will soar this year, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday, after President Obama and Congress gave up on austerity late last year, embracing spending hikes and massive new tax cuts that have left the government awash in red ink.

January 19, 2016

Supreme Court to hear Obama amnesty case

The Supreme Court will rule on whether President Obama has the power to grant a deportation amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants without needing the approval of Congress, the justices announced Tuesday, setting up what could become the biggest showdown over executive powers so far this century.

January 19, 2016

Donald Trump pulls Republicans further right on immigration as Democrats veer left

It was supposed to have been solved more than a decade ago, but immigration continues to roil the American political debate, and has come to dominate this year's presidential primaries in a way few would have expected after the 2012 election.

January 18, 2016

Britain begins debate on banning Donald Trump

Members of the British parliament called Donald Trump everything from a buffoon to a race-baiting terrorist enabler Monday -- but stopped short of endorsing a ban on allowing him to enter the United Kingdom, saying they didn't want to turn him into a political martyr.

January 18, 2016

Hillary Clinton defends Obamacare; Bernie Sanders says it must go further

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton vowed Sunday to defend Obamacare from Republicans' efforts to repeal it, and from fellow candidate Sen. Bernard Sanders' plans to replace it with a socialized medicine plan that would put the government in control of all health spending.

January 17, 2016

U.S. immigration authorities screening Iraqi, Syrian refugees’ social media accounts

Homeland Security is now trying to screen the social media accounts of Iraqi and Syrian refugee applicants, an agency chief said, as evidence emerges that immigration officers missed potential clues that foreign fighters left in cyberspace about their intentions.

January 17, 2016

Bernie Sanders keeps lawsuit against DNC alive

Sen. Bernard Sanders told a federal court Friday he does not intend to pursue his lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee over his access to voter data files -- but he kept the case open anyway, just in case the DNC backslides.

January 15, 2016

Hispanics recruit liberal billionaire Tom Steyer as major backer

Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer has joined the Latino Victory Fund as an honorary co-chairman, the group announced Friday, marrying one of the liberal world's most generous donors with the effort to sway elections through Hispanic recruitment.

January 15, 2016