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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Republican Reps. Trent Franks, Matt Salmon and David Schweikert wrote a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki on Tuesday, citing reports that officials at the Phoenix Veterans Health Care System had kept a "secret list" of patient requests in order to conceal the fact that some patients were being made to wait more. "As a direct result of such practices, the deaths of over 40 veterans have come to light," they wrote in the letter. (associated press photographs)

Both sides of Congress have own red lines for Obama’s action in Syria

Congress appears ready to give President Obama the $500 million he wants to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels, possibly as soon as next week, but anything beyond that remained murky, including whether lawmakers will back the commander in chief if he expands airstrikes to include targets in Syria.

September 11, 2014
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., emerge from a two-hour, closed door meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, with fellow Republicans to consider the proposals from President Barack Obama to combat Islamic State militants in the heart of the Middle East. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Boehner: Give Obama what he’s asking for

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Congress should approve President Obama's request for money to equip and train Syrian rebels, but said that's only the beginning of a strategy to destroy the Islamic State.

September 11, 2014
Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and three of his top aides have used personal email accounts for government business, feeding the growing legal storm over secret accounts and how much access the public should have to those records. (Associated Press/File)

No current intelligence Islamic State plotting attacks on U.S.: Homeland Security

There is no current intelligence suggesting Islamic State militants are plotting attacks on the U.S., Homeland Security officials told Congress on Wednesday, but they acknowledged the dangers of a terrorist trying to sneak across a porous southern border or a lone wolf attack inspired by the insurgents' advances in Iraq and Syria.

September 10, 2014
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. arrives to speak with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014, before joining other congressional leaders at the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama. In advance of the crucial midterm elections, Reid has been criticizing special interest campaign spending as being undemocratic, with a special focus on the billionaire Koch brothers who have contributed large sums to conservative groups that are spending millions against Democratic senators. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Harry Reid tells GOP to tune out Dick Cheney

With President Obama poised to make a case for an expanded U.S. military commitment to the Middle East, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to draw distinctions between that and the previous Iraq war, which deposed Saddam Hussein at the cost of thousands of American troops' lives.

September 10, 2014
Police in riot gear work to disperse protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. Federal agencies acknowledged they don't track how the automatic weapons and armored trucks are used by police, the Defense and Homeland Security departments testified to Congress. (Associated Press)

Obama administration blames locals for police militarization

The Obama administration said Tuesday the federal government and the military were not to blame for disturbing scenes like the heavily armored police who confronted citizens last month in Ferguson, Missouri, saying responsibility lies instead with the local police who are asking for more firepower and state officials who approve the requests.

September 9, 2014
President Obama has vehemently defended his decision to swap five Taliban guerrillas for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, but the president may no longer have control over the narrative and likely will face increasingly intense questioning over the deal. (Associated Press)

House rebukes Obama over Bergdahl-Taliban exchange

The House voted Tuesday to formally condemn President Obama for releasing five Taliban warriors earlier this year in an exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, with nearly two dozen Democrats joining Republicans in declaring the president broke the law by not giving Congress a heads-up.

September 9, 2014
In this May 23, 2014 photo, grocery and dairy assistant Reyna DeLoge stocks dairy products that only use milk from pasture-raised cows, at Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers, in Denver. The Colorado-based grocery store chain recently announced that it will carry only dairy products from farms where cows graze on pasture, talking the position that grazing improves the health of cows and consumers. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

GOP’s new Obama attack: Got milk?

Republicans Tuesday seized on the news that milk futures have hit record highs, saying it's the latest indication of a struggling economy and tougher times for average Americans under President Obama.

September 9, 2014
The Capitol will be bustling again as House and Senate members return from a five-week recess. Before heading back home for last-minute campaigning, lawmakers must get to work on several key bills — including a continuing resolution to extend funding for government agencies — improving on what has proved to be a decent year of progress, according to The Washington Times' Legislative Futility Index. (Associated Press)

Do-something Congress keeps on going

Despite a terrible reputation as a do-nothing Congress, Capitol Hill has actually been pretty productive, with lawmakers notching an average year for debating and passing bills, according to The Washington Times' Legislative Futility Index.

September 8, 2014
Supporters stand behind Democratic members of Congress during a rally in support of a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to contributions and expenditures intended to affect elections. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Senate debates limiting campaign cash by altering First Amendment

Senators opened a historic debate Monday on whether to alter the First Amendment to give Congress the power to squelch free speech in the form of campaign spending, setting up a showdown vote later this week on the first alterations to the founding document in decades.

September 8, 2014