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Articles by Stephen Dinan

A U.S. trooper mans a machine gun in the turret on a vehicle as a guard looks out from a tower in front of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba, in this March 30, 2010, file photo. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

Congress passes defense policy bill that keeps Guantanamo open

President Obama's plans to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay took another hit Tuesday as Congress passed the annual defense policy bill that keeps in place a ban on shipping any of the terrorist suspects to the U.S.

November 10, 2015
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office during the President's Daily Economic Briefing on July 30, 2009. (White House)

Judges use Obama’s own words to halt deportation amnesty

A federal appeals court said President Obama's own words claiming powers to "change the law" were part of the reason it struck down his deportation amnesty, in a ruling late Monday that reaffirmed the president must carry out laws and doesn't have blanket powers to waive them.

November 10, 2015
President Obama. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Obama plan to shield millions from deportation rejected by appeals court

President Obama's effort to grant up to 5 million illegal immigrants work permits and amnesty from deportation suffered a major blow late Monday when a federal appeals court ruled it was likely illegal, in yet another move by the courts to set limits on this White House's efforts to stretch presidential powers.

November 9, 2015
A sign stands outside the National Security Agency (NSA) campus in Fort Meade, Md., in this June 6, 2013, file photo. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Federal judge rules against NSA phone-snooping program

A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency must immediately stop snooping on a lawyer who challenged the spy agency's phone data collection program -- but issued a stay later in the day after the government made an emergency appeal, saying the decision would have forced them to shutter the whole program.

November 9, 2015
Rep. Don Young, the Alaska Republican who championed the bridge and remains one of Congress' biggest champions of earmarks, argues that his colleagues have forfeited part of their power of the purse, which the Constitution delegated to the legislative branch. (Associated Press)

Alaska kills ‘bridge to nowhere’ that helped put end to earmarks

Alaska officials have put the final kibosh on the infamous "bridge to nowhere" -- a $400 million project tucked into the federal transportation plan 10 years ago that became the symbol of Washington pork, spawned massive voter outrage and forever changed the way the government does business.

November 8, 2015
Workers at the Massachusetts State Archives in Boston point to a section of an original copy of the Bill of Rights sent to Massaschusetts by President Washington for ratification. Massachusetts did not ratify the Bill of Rights until the 1930s, preferring the state's own Declaration of Rights written by John Adams. (Associated Press)

Illegal immigrants release ‘Bill of Rights’

An immigrant-rights group proposed a "Bill of Rights" for illegal immigrants Thursday, demanding that Americans recognize there are millions already in the country who deserve health care, in-state tuition rates for college and a guarantee of citizenship in the long term.

November 5, 2015
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 3, 2015, following a Senate Democratic policy luncheon. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Ted Cruz illegal immigration crackdown blocked by Harry Reid

Senate Democrats rejected an effort to push back against sanctuary cities Wednesday, denying a request by Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz to immediately begin debating a bill to impose mandatory minimum federal sentences on repeat-illegal immigrants.

November 4, 2015
A military color guard stands at attention on the field for the singing of the national anthem before an NFL football game between the Miami Dolphins and the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Senators accuse NFL, other leagues of ‘paid patriotism’

Senators accused the Pentagon and top sports leagues Wednesday of using taxpayers' money to pay for some of the ceremonies honoring U.S. troops that have become staples of big-time American sporting events in a practice the lawmakers dubbed "paid patriotism."

November 4, 2015