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Articles by Stephen Dinan

NSA phone record collection is excessive: U.S. appeals court

The NSA's phone snooping program is probably illegal and certainly can't be justified under the Patriot Act, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in a momentous decision that could rewrite the way the government has to go about gathering intelligence.

May 7, 2015
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, who, along with a review board must approve the decision to keep any employees deemed to have intentionally cheated on their taxes, has insisted things at his agency have improved over the last two years. (Associated Press)

IRS gave promotions to tax cheaters: Audit

The IRS refused to fire most of its own employees found to be cheating on their taxes -- and in some cases even quickly turned around and promoted them within the year, according to an audit released Wednesday.

May 6, 2015
Speaking in Las Vegas at a Cinco de Mayo meeting focused on immigration, Hillary Rodham Clinton met with so-called Dreamers, or young illegal immigrants here under color of President Obama's initial 2012 amnesty, and said she will protect them from Republicans who she said are intent on deporting them. (Associated Press)

Hillary Clinton vows to expand Obama amnesty

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Tuesday that if elected, she would try to expand President Obama's deportation amnesty to more illegal immigrants, saying this administration has left out a number of aliens who deserve to be granted legal status.

May 5, 2015
In this April 29, 2015, photo, Democratic presidential hopeful former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum in New York. Clinton intends to draw an early distinction with Republicans on immigration reform, pointing to a pathway to citizenship as an essential part of any overhaul in Congress. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Dreamers demand White House hopefuls end deportations, halt arrests

Any presidential candidate who wants to win Hispanic votes next year will need to pledge to take unilateral action to halt deportations, to break the links that allow local police to help enforce immigration laws and to stop prosecuting rank-and-file illegal immigrants at the border, a group of Dreamers said in a new policy paper Tuesday.

May 5, 2015
The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building is seen in Washington on April 13, 2014. (Associated Press) **FILE**

IRS wasted $5.6B on bogus Obama stimulus tax credits: Audit

The IRS doled out more than $5 billion in potentially bogus college aid payments in 2012 under an Obama stimulus tax credit, according to a report Tuesday from the agency's inspector general that said the administration still doesn't have a good handle on how to root out erroneous claims.

May 5, 2015
Bill Clinton was the strictest president in modern political times when it comes to immigration, signing bills cracking down on both legal and illegal immigrants — but it's unlikely that record will infect his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has promised a more lenient approach as she makes a push for Hispanic voters in her presidential bid. (Associated Press)

Hillary Clinton rejects Bill Clinton immigration crackdown, vows lenient approach

Bill Clinton was the strictest president in modern political times when it comes to immigration, signing bills cracking down on both legal and illegal immigrants — but it's unlikely that record will infect his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has promised a more lenient approach as she makes a push for Hispanic voters in her presidential bid.

May 4, 2015
Scott Veley of Kensington, Conn., holds a Gadsden flag during a tea party protest at the Capitol in Hartford, Conn., on April 15, 2010. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

IRS still targeting tea party: Nine groups awaiting agency approval

Nine tea party groups were still awaiting IRS approval for nonprofit status nearly two years after the political targeting program was exposed, the inspector general said in a report Thursday that, despite hiccups, claimed the tax agency has generally done a good job of cleaning up its act.

April 30, 2015
Edward Snowden. (Associated Press)

NSA snooping program on last legs after anti-Patriot Act vote

The NSA's phone-snooping program is likely on its last legs after a key House committee voted overwhelmingly Thursday to end the Patriot Act's bulk-collection powers that the government was relying on to keep the phone program up and running.

April 30, 2015

Jeh Johnson touts border security, eyes improvements

Homeland Security still won't have a complete handle on the border by the end of President Obama's tenure, department Secretary Jeh Johnson admitted to Congress on Wednesday, though he said they are quickly getting better.

April 29, 2015
President Barack Obama walks to the presidential limousines after stepping off Marine One at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Wednesday, April 29, 2015, for a visit with wounded military personnel. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Obama rejects investigation into guest-worker program abuse

The Obama administration this week rejected a request from Congress to investigate potential abuses in the country's key guest-worker program for tech workers, insisting it would "be premature" to look into Southern California Edison's use of the controversial H-1B visa to outsource jobs.

April 29, 2015
Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, said the "doc fix" would cost taxpayers a net $141 billion over the next decade, and would bring Congress disrepute. (Associated Press)

Fast-track trade authority support grows with assurances of no Obama immigration policy

Fearful of immigration's power to sink any issue it touches, the administration and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are doing everything they can to try to make the case that immigration is totally unrelated to the looming Pacific trade deal and the fast-track trade authority President Obama says will be needed to conclude the negotiations.

April 28, 2015
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addresses the media at a news conference at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix on March 25, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

NFL to drop tax-free status after complaints

The National Football League said Tuesday it will give up its tax-exempt status, with Commissioner Roger Goodell saying complaints that the wealthy league was skimming millions of dollars from taxpayers had become a "distraction."

April 28, 2015
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson acknowledged at Tuesday's hearing that 282 people have had to be kicked out of the amnesty program because of criminal convictions or gang ties that were later discovered. That was out of a population of more than 600,000 who were approved. (Associated Press)

Jeh Johnson: Amnesty for ‘Top Model’ murder suspect a ‘tragic’ mistake

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said it was a "tragic" mistake for his department to grant a temporary amnesty to an illegal immigrant who has since been accused of four murders, but acknowledged Tuesday that more than 280 other illegal immigrants also have had their amnesties rescinded because of criminal or gang-related behavior.

April 28, 2015