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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, leaves the floor of the Senate after skirmishing with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., over the Affordable Care Act, popularly know as "Obamacare," at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Ted Cruz’s talkathon mostly a spectacle

Republican leaders said Tuesday that a filibuster attempt to prevent a spending bill from reaching the Senate floor was a losing tactic in the fight against Obamacare, and instead began to ramp up pressure on a handful of Democrats, saying the real battle will be an end-of-week vote specifically on whether to keep funding the health care law.

September 24, 2013
**FILE** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, speaks Sept. 19, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Associated Press)

Harry Reid: There is no filibuster

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that despite an expected talk-a-thon by Sen. Ted Cruz and his allies in the fight to defund Obamacare, that does not mean the GOP is succeeding in filibustering.

September 24, 2013

In a shutdown, Obama picks what’s essential

A government shutdown would leave wide latitude to President Obama to decide exactly which federal agencies stop working and which ones are deemed "essential services" that have to keep going even through a shutdown.

September 22, 2013
Ron Binz (From Ron Binz' Public Policy Consulting website)

Energy nominee Ron Binz loses voltage with contradictions, Obama coal rules

President Obama's nominee to a top energy post is hanging on by a thread after a poor performance last week at a confirmation hearing where he failed to win over key supporters and even appeared to have misled a Senate committee about his record of support for a coal-fired energy plant.

September 22, 2013
Speaker of the House John Boehner, Ohio Republican, and fellow House GOP members rally at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 20, 2013, after passing a bill that would fund the government for three months while crippling the health care law that was the signature accomplishment of President Obama's first term. (Associated Press)

House passes spending bill to defund Obamacare

House Republicans passed their stopgap funding bill Friday to keep government open while terminating the new health care law, setting up a final showdown next week with Senate Democrats and President Obama who have firmly rejected that.

September 20, 2013
** FILE ** Adm. Mike Mullen. (Associated Press)

Benghazi investigators gave Hillary Clinton heads-up on findings

The leaders of the State Department's Benghazi probe defended their inquiry into the 2012 attack, but they acknowledged to Congress on Thursday that their mission was limited in scope and faced questions over why they gave Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton an advance look at their findings.

September 19, 2013
** FILE ** Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texas Republican, speaks about his upcoming appeal of a money-laundering conviction at his attorney's office in Houston on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Tom DeLay: ‘I can get my concealed weapons license back’

Former Rep. Tom DeLay said not much changed after a Texas appeals court overturned his conviction Thursday and acquitted him of charges he violated campaign finance laws — except that he will have a key constitutional right restored.

September 19, 2013
Former Rep. Tom DeLay (Associated Press, File)

Tom DeLay’s money-laundering conviction overturned by Texas appeals court

A Texas appeals court acquitted former Rep. Tom DeLay of money laundering Thursday, closing an eight-year-long criminal case against the man who was once the most powerful Republican in Congress — but Democrats achieved their goal of keeping him on the political sidelines for all that time.

September 19, 2013
Ron Binz (From Ron Binz' Public Policy Consulting website)

Obama’s energy nominee in danger of defeat

Two key senators said Wednesday they will vote against confirming Ron Binz to be chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, dealing what could be a fatal blow to President Obama's pick for the obscure but powerful panel.

September 18, 2013
People gather to look at the site of a car bombing near Libya’s Foreign Ministry building in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2013, one year to the date of an attack there killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. (Associated Press)

State Dept.: FBI can’t get into Benghazi to arrest suspects

Libya will allow reporters in but won't let the FBI into Benghazi to try to arrest those responsible for last year's attacks because the security situation is too tenuous, a senior State Department official told Congress on Wednesday.

September 18, 2013
** FILE ** Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat. (Associated Press)

Energy panel choice sought BP’s aid

President Obama's nominee to head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asked top officials at BP oil company to lobby on his behalf, further expanding the list of lobbyists and former lobbyists Ron Binz has worked with as he's tried to win the chairmanship of the obscure but powerful panel, according to new emails released this week.

September 17, 2013