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Articles by Stephen Dinan

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
John F. Sopko, the inspector general who overseas U.S. spending on Afghanistan reconstruction, called the cost for the green energy project exorbitant and deemed the project ill-conceived. (Associated Press)

Pentagon offers no answers on $43 million price tag for Afghanistan gas station

The Defense Department spent $43 million on a compressed natural gas fueling station in Afghanistan, while a similar project in Pakistan cost just $300,000 -- and now the Pentagon can't even account for who made the decisions behind the waste, according to an inspector general's report being released Monday.

November 2, 2015
In this file photo from Thursday Aug. 9, 2012, persons are detained for being in the country illegally and are transferred out of the holding area after being processed at the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. A report by a bipartisan think tank that oversees the implementation of 9/11 Commission recommendations and other Homeland Security issues says the department that oversees the U.S. Border Patrol does not use effective performance measurements. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)

Feds say 179,027 criminal illegals are loose on U.S. streets

Nearly 1 million immigrants have been ordered deported but still roam free in the U.S., including nearly 180,000 who have been convicted of crimes here, the Homeland Security Department said in information released Friday by the Senate immigration subcommittee.

October 30, 2015
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a town hall meeting, Friday, Oct. 16, 2015, in Keene, N.H. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

Hillary Clinton’s emails show paranoia about GOP

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's paranoia about Republicans permeates her emails, where even a common error message on an undelivered email prompted her to speculated -- presumably jokingly -- that the "neocons" must be reading her mail.

October 30, 2015
FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2015 file photo, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congressional Republicans are moving to block President Barack Obama's plan to force steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., and Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky. say they will file resolutions this week opposing Obama’s plan to impose new regulations on new and existing coal-fired plants. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Senate passes debt and spending hike in dead of night

Senate Republicans managed to wrangle enough of their troops to overcome a filibuster early Friday morning and pass the new budget deal, granting President Obama yet another debt holiday, busting the budget caps and boosting spending some $80 billion over the next two years.

October 30, 2015
FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2015, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks during a campaign stop at the Republican Liberty Caucus in Nashua, N.H. A defiant Paul is brushing off weak fundraising and weaker poll numbers as some Republicans begin pushing him to abandon his presidential ambitions to focus on his Senate re-election. The first-term Kentucky senator this week claimed his superior political organization would prove wrong those doubting his chances in the White House contest. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)

Rand Paul begins ‘filibuster’ to try to stop debt deal

Sen. Rand Paul is making good on his threat to try to filibuster the new budget deal, taking to the Senate floor Thursday afternoon to say he'll delay the bill as long as he can to try to expose the agreement's flaws.

October 29, 2015
House Speaker John A. Boehner announced his retirement from Congress in late September, just a day after he hosted Pope Francis at the Capitol. (Associated Press)

John Boehner reshaped House, speakership with earmarks ban, new rules

Remember the bad old days of earmarks? Neither do nearly 200 members of the House of Representatives, who came to Congress in 2011 or later and have never served a day when they could slip pork-barrel projects into bills, siphoning taxpayers' money to well-connected constituents back home in exchange for supporting bloated bills in Washington.

October 28, 2015
Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks during a campaign stop, Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in Goffstown, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Kasich blasts opponents at start of third Republican debate

Desperate to stand out, Ohio Gov. John Kasich kicked off the third presidential debate Wednesday by ignoring the first question posed to him and instead attacking the two GOP frontrunners, saying their plans are dangerous and don't add up.

October 28, 2015
"It's the best we can do with what we have," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers. (Associated Press)

Budget deal approved by House

With Democrats leading the way, the House passed a budget agreement Wednesday to boost spending in 2016 and 2017 and grant a debt holiday allowing for unlimited federal borrowing into the next president's term -- but not before conservatives mounted one last vote of defiance against outgoing Speaker John A. Boehner.

October 28, 2015
FILE - In this April 5, 2011 file photo, then-House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., introduces his controversial "Path to Prosperity" budget recommendations, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Ryan has spent his entire life preparing for a job he says he never wanted. Ryan worked as a congressional intern in college, returning later to work as a paid staffer on Capitol Hill. By 28, he was a member of the House. By his early 40s, he was the chairman of the House Budget Committee and then the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. In 2012, he was a vice presidential candidate and a talked-about future presidential contender. This week, Ryan is set to become Speaker of the House, second in line to the presidency (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Ryan to support budget deal

Rep. Paul Ryan, on the cusp of ascending to the House speaker's job, said Wednesday he'll support the new budget deal that boosts spending and grants a 17-month debt holiday because it's the only way to "wipe the slate clean" and give him a clean start.

October 28, 2015
"It's a solid agreement, and I told my colleagues there isn't any reason why any member should vote against this," House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said after making a plea — likely his last as speaker — for support for another controversial measure. (Associated Press)

Budget deal: Social Security fixes give Republicans small victory

The budget deal that Republican and Democratic leaders reached this week makes the biggest changes to Social Security in decades, giving Republicans a small victory as they try to sell the agreement to skeptical advocacy groups in Washington and voters back home.

October 27, 2015