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Articles by Stephen Dinan

A drone is demonstrated in Brigham City, Utah, on Feb. 13, 2014. (Associated Press)

Feds to require drone owners to register

Private drones must be registered with the federal government and owners will have to pay a $5 "drone tax" under rules Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx released Monday, as officials belatedly try to bring accountability to the Wild West in the sky.

December 14, 2015
Van Thanh Nguyen, center, is greeted by a nun as she arrives for her daughter Tin Nguyen's funeral on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, in Santa Ana, Calif. Nguyen died in the mass shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 2. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Catholic bishops reject halt to Muslim visitors, urge gun control

America's Catholic bishops came out in opposition to GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump's call for a temporary ban on admission of Muslim immigrants and visitors, issuing a statement Monday saying the U.S. should never "target specific classes of persons based on religion."

December 14, 2015
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former Democratic National Committee chairwoman. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

DNC craves tax dollars for convention

Already struggling with finances, the Democratic Party has drafted a plan to have taxpayers help pay about $20 million for next summer's nominating convention, reversing a change Congress approved just a year ago.

December 13, 2015
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC chairwoman (Associated Press) **FILE**

Dems eye taxpayer bailout for 2016

Already struggling with finances, the Democratic Party has drafted a plan to have taxpayers help pay for next summer's nominating convention, reversing a change Congress approved just a year ago.

December 11, 2015
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich contends voting district are drawn intentionally to pack white voters into one area to outnumber Hispanic voters. (Associated Press)

Supreme Court hears gerrymandering cases that affect noncitizens

Supreme Court justices grappled Tuesday with how to balance the "one person, one vote" principle against late-20th century affirmative action policies, hearing two cases testing how far states can go in accommodating noncitizens or racial minorities when it comes time to draw voting districts.

December 8, 2015
The dome of the Capitol is reflected in a skylight of the Capitol Visitor's Center in Washington on Jan. 1, 2013. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

House approves new scrutiny for terrorism-risk visitors

The House took the first steps to rein in the visa waiver program Tuesday, rallying to an overwhelming bipartisan vote to demand that high-risk travelers face stricter scrutiny, as Congress and the White House look for ways to keep potentially thousands of foreign fighters from reaching the U.S.

December 8, 2015
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (left) of Nevada listens as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 28, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Congressional Democrats urge Supreme Court to reinstate amnesty

Congressional Democrats filed an extraordinary brief with the Supreme Court late Thursday urging the justices to overturn a lower court ruling and reinstate President Obama executive amnesty, arguing that the executive branch has a better handle on immigration than Capitol Hill.

December 4, 2015
John F. Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, said in a letter released Thursday that the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations was unable to show a return on the $150 million it spent on villas in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad. (Associated Press)

Pentagon spent millions for luxurious private villas

The same Defense Department office that spent $43 million on a gas station in Afghanistan also spent 20 percent of the rest of its budget to house workers and visitors at luxurious private villas, rather than have them stay on military bases for free to save "tens of millions of dollars," investigators have concluded.

December 3, 2015
Sarah Saldana, who runs U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said estimates of the illegal immigrant population in the U.S. could be as high as 15 million. (Associated Press)

ICE gives away $113 million, says not enough illegal immigrants to deport

Even as they were pleading poverty in the federal courts, immigration officials gave away $113 million this year, with Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Sarah R. Saldana testifying to Congress on Wednesday that they didn't need the money because there weren't enough illegal immigrants to hold or deport.

December 2, 2015
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, joined by Sen. Ben Cardin, Maryland Democrat, points to the embedded chip in her passport that contains digital information, as she and other Democrats talk about security measures for Syrian refugees and others coming into the U.S. on Nov. 19, 2015, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Bipartisan consensus forms on restricting Visa Waiver Program

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Tuesday to stop foreigners who've recently visited Syria or Iraq from traveling to the U.S. on a visa waiver, signaling Congress's next likely target as it tries to take steps to reduce the chances of a Paris-style terrorist attack.

December 1, 2015