Stephen Dinan

Rules that keep feds from trolling Facebook, Twitter could have led to Snowden, Alexis

Most businesses regularly "Google" job applicants to see whether any red flags appear, but federal agencies generally shun checking social media websites — giving up a tool, analysts say, that could be helpful in weeding out everything from disability and immigration fraud to unsavory people trying to gain top-secret security clearance.

March 16, 2014

Clinton White House thought Hillary had secret to reaching Catholic voters

The Clinton White House believed Hillary Rodham Clinton had figured out a way to reach Catholic voters while still disagreeing on big issues such as abortion rights, according to new memos released Friday by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.

March 14, 2014

Senators deluged by complaints void 2-year-old flood insurance plan before 10-day break

Just two years after it fixed the federal flood insurance program to make homeowners pay premiums commensurate with their risk, Congress on Thursday reversed some of those reforms, bowing to political pressure from constituents shocked at how high their premiums jumped.

March 13, 2014

Obama calls for ‘more humane’ deportation policy

President Obama has ordered his new Homeland Security secretary to look for ways to "more humanely" enforce immigration laws, the White House said Thursday.

March 13, 2014

Senators reach deal on unemployment benefits

Senators said Thursday they have reached a deal on a bill to renew federal unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless, announcing a bipartisan agreement that appears likely to have enough votes to clear a filibuster.

March 13, 2014

Boehner invites Pope Francis to address Congress

House Speaker John A. Boehner sent an open-ended invitation Thursday asking Pope Francis to address a joint meeting of Congress, in what would appear to be a first for a leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

March 13, 2014

Harry Reid: ‘I’m not afraid of the Koch brothers’

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid renewed his crusade against the Koch brothers Thursday, and demanded that Republicans disavow the two men who have spent tens of millions of dollars to back conservative causes.

March 13, 2014

GOP bill tries to pull courts into fight with Obama on executive power, enforcing laws

Tired of watching helplessly from the sidelines as President Obama decided how to enforce the laws they wrote, House Republicans on Wednesday pushed back, passing a bill they said would at least rope in the courts to serve as potential referees between the branches of government.

March 12, 2014

Sen. Saxby Chambliss urges caution in CIA-Senate clash

The top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee pushed back Wednesday against accusations that the CIA snooped through congressional computers, saying that the facts are still too murky to draw any firm conclusions and a special investigator may have to be enlisted to sort it all out.

March 12, 2014

Female TSA officers say pat-down duty leads to workplace discrimination

Female TSA officers are in such high demand to conduct pat-downs that they get pigeonholed as checkpoint workers and miss out on chances for other experience that would earn them promotions, a top member of Congress said Tuesday.

March 12, 2014

Deportations come mostly from border, DHS chief says

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson acknowledged Tuesday that his department's deportation numbers are now mostly made up of illegal immigrants caught at the border, not just those from the interior, which means they can't be compared one-to-one with deportations under President Bush or other prior administrations.

March 12, 2014

House panel report concludes that Lerner lied to Congress on IRS targeting

Lois G. Lerner, the woman at the center of the IRS tea party targeting, lied to congressional investigators when she claimed in 2012 that they were not targeting tea party groups, House Republicans charged Tuesday in a new report documenting her role in the scandal.

March 11, 2014

Congress bans taxpayer funding for political conventions

Congress on Tuesday agreed to cancel its giveaway of taxpayer money to its own political conventions every four years, as the Senate cleared a bill to cut off funds.

March 11, 2014

Intelligence chairwoman accuses CIA of intimidation, snooping on Congress

In a stunning public accusation Tuesday, the chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee said the CIA snooped through congressional computers and is trying to intimidate Congress into backing off a report looking into charges of torture during terrorist-linked interrogations.

March 11, 2014

CPAC 2014: Poll shows GOP discontent, Congress frustration

Last week's Conservative Political Action Conference did little to dispel the notion of a deep rift between grass-roots activists and national GOP leaders, with CPAC's three-day straw poll showing frustration with Congress and a growing discontent with "establishment" presidential candidates.

March 9, 2014

U.S. has lost track of tens of thousands of foreign students who came study to then took jobs

The federal government has lost track of tens of thousands of foreign students who came to the U.S. to study and then took jobs, often in violation of the terms of their visas, according to a new internal audit.

March 9, 2014

Border Patrol Chief: Agents can still shoot at rock throwers

U.S. Border Patrol agents can still use deadly force to respond to rock-throwing attacks along the border, even though they must take care in assessing whether their lives are in danger, Border Patrol Chief Michael J. Fisher said in a new directive Friday.

March 9, 2014

Rand Paul wins 2014 CPAC straw poll, Ted Cruz finishes a distant second

Sen. Rand Paul demolished his competition in the 2014 Washington Times/CPAC presidential preference straw poll on Saturday, winning 31 percent of the vote -- nearly three times the total of second-place Sen. Ted Cruz.

March 8, 2014

Border Patrol policy still permits agents to shoot at rock-throwers

U.S. Border Patrol agents can still use deadly force in response to rock-throwing attacks along the border, even though they must take care in assessing whether their lives are in danger, Border Patrol Chief Michael J. Fisher said in a new directive Friday.

March 7, 2014

IRS to turn over Lerner emails in tea party targeting probe

House Republicans said Friday that the IRS has agreed to turn over documents and emails from Lois G. Lerner, the agency's former employee who was at the center of the tea party targeting scandal.

March 7, 2014