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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaks at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this May 20, 2013, file photo. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Sanctuary cities policy in GOP cross-hairs

Seeking to shift the immigration debate's focus to the victims of criminal aliens, Republicans this week vowed to punish states that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities in deporting illegal immigrants.

July 9, 2015
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the stark number of missed contraband items looked bad "out of context," but said the tests were important in trying to advance TSA's mission. (Associated Press)

Illegals refuse to give up three-year amnesties

The Homeland Security Department is predictably having a devil of a time trying to get illegal immigrants to send back their three-year amnesty approvals, administration lawyers said as they admitted to a federal judge Thursday, saying that more than 40 percent of them remain outstanding.

July 9, 2015
Former Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta (Associated Press) **FILE**

Fed data hack reached staggering 21 million

Federal officials acknowledged Thursday that hackers managed to steal information on more than 21 million Americans from the government's background check computers, including details of their health and financial histories, as the shocking outlines of the breach finally became clear.

July 9, 2015
In this June 28, 2015, file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, to talk about the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Congress pulls bill amid Confederate flag fight

South Carolina will pull the Confederate battle flag down from a Statehouse memorial Friday, but the national debate over the flag showed no sign of waning as Democrats in Washington, sensing momentum, moved to furl state flags at the Capitol that still include Confederate symbols.

July 9, 2015
Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Wisconsin Republican. (Associated Press)

James Sensenbrenner, Robert Scott draft criminal justice reform

The government today can't even list all of the federal crimes it could use to charge someone -- a symbol of just how out of control the national criminal justice system is, said Reps. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. and Robert C. Scott, two senior congressmen who hope to change the face of the nation's prison population.

July 6, 2015
President Barack Obama pauses while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, June 25, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama defies federal judge, fails to rescind wrongly issued amnesties

The Obama administration still hasn't fully rescinded the 2,000 three-year amnesties it wrongly issued four months ago in violation of a court order, government lawyers recently admitted in court, spurring a stern response from the judge who said the matter must be cleaned up by the end of July — or else.

June 29, 2015
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a campaign stop at Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Mo., on June 23, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi emails withheld from State Dept., panel says

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't turn over all of her work-related emails to the department despite her claims to have done so, the Benghazi investigative committee charged Thursday in a statement raising new questions about the Democratic presidential candidate's email practices.

June 25, 2015
President Barack Obama walks out with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California after meeting with House Democrats on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 12, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Congress clears final major piece of Obama trade deal

Congress cleared the second part of the trade package Thursday after House Democrats reversed themselves and voted for new assistance for workers displaced by free trade agreements, cementing fast-track negotiating powers President Obama will use to finalize a major Pacific Rim deal.

June 25, 2015
Lois Lerner is the former IRS official at the center of a controversy over how the agency treated conservative political groups. (Associated Press) **FILE**

IRS erased Lois Lerner’s emails even after subpoena, audit says

The IRS erased backup takes with Lois G. Lerner's emails even after the messages were subject to a congressional subpoena, but it was an "unbelievable" chain of coincidences rather than a malicious intent to subvert Congress, the tax agency's inspector general said Thursday.

June 25, 2015
President Barack Obama walks with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right and House Minority Assistant Leader James Clyburn of S.C., as he visits Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2015, for a meeting with House Democrats. The president made an 11th-hour appeal to dubious Democrats on Friday in a tense run-up to a House showdown on legislation to strengthen his hand in global trade talks (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) **FILE**

Congress approves Obama trade powers

Congress granted fast-track trade negotiating powers to the White House Wednesday, surmounting the objections of liberal and conservative pressure groups who'd tried to scuttle the bipartisan deal, which delivers a tremendous win to President Obama.

June 24, 2015

Congress ponders: OPM data breach could total 32 million Americans

As many as 32 million Americans might have had their most sensitive data stolen in a breach of the federal government's human resources agency computers, lawmakers speculated Wednesday as pressure grew on President Obama to oust the woman who heads the agency that botched its cybersecurity.

June 24, 2015
In this April 30, 2015 photo, Gladys Pina, 30, from Honduras holds her 8-month old baby girl at a respite center run by Catholic Charities in McAllen, Texas. She was among nearly two-dozen immigrant mothers who arrived at the center after being released by Border Patrol. Rather than getting locked up in a family detention facility, some families are released by Border Patrol with notices to appear in immigration court. (AP Photo/Seth Robbins)

DHS to free illegal immigrant families

Homeland Security will begin releasing more illegal immigrant families from detention, Secretary Jeh Johnson announced Wednesday as he bowed to political pressure from activists and members of Congress who'd called the conditions inhumane for families.

June 24, 2015
"Hundreds of thousands of enrollees lost their plans when co-ops in nine states collapsed, and these victims deserve clear and honest answers from the bureaucrats who oversaw the mess," said Sen. Ben Sasse, Nebraska Republican. (Associated Press)

Feds unsure how hackers got credentials to hit HR system

Federal officials still don't know how hackers got a hold of credentials that allowed them to break into the government's main human resources computer system, stealing the most sensitive personal information on millions of Americans, the agency chief told Congress on Tuesday.

June 23, 2015
A Confederate flag flies next to the Alabama Confederate Memorial on the grounds of the Alabama Capitol building in Montgomery, Ala., on June 22, 2015. (Albert Cesare/The Montgomery Advertiser via Associated Press)

Anti-Confederate sentiment spreads after South Carolina flag debate

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's demand to revisit the Confederate battle flag's placement on the Statehouse grounds is sparking a national conversation beyond the emblem, with some leaders calling for statues and nicknames associated with the Confederacy to go as well.

June 23, 2015
(Associated Press/File)

Obama amnesty reaches illegals in prisons, jails

The Obama administration has ordered agents to begin ignoring many of the illegal immigrants they encounter in local prisons and jails, as the president begins to implement a lesser-known part of his deportation amnesty program -- a move that's not sitting well with either side in the immigration debate.

June 23, 2015
In this June 17, 2015, photo, President Barack Obama looks out as he sits on stage as Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks during her investiture ceremony at the Warner Theatre in Washington. Critics have long predicted that Obama’s policy to shift America’s focus toward Asia is doomed. The legislative battle over his trade agenda could prove the acid test. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Trade deal overcomes filibuster

Pro-trade senators surmounted yet another filibuster test Tuesday, setting a package of free-trade bills on the path to President Obama's desk by the end of this week -- unless House Democrats decide to embarrass their party leader once more.

June 23, 2015