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Articles by Stephen Dinan

** FILE ** Sen. Rand Paul (R-K.Y.) speaks at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (C.P.A.C.) held at the Gaylord National Hotel, National Harbor, Md., Thursday, March 14, 2013. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Rand Paul wins The Washington Times-CPAC 2013 Straw Poll

Sen. Rand Paul won the 2013 Washington Times-CPAC presidential preference straw poll this past weekend with Sen. Marco Rubio coming in a close second, easily outdistancing the rest of the field and signaling the rise of a new generation of conservative leaders.

March 16, 2013
**FILE** Helen Strom of the Brooklyn borough of New York listens to a speaker during the People's Budget Hearing at the Capitol on Feb. 27, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. Anti-poverty groups rallied for a raise in the state's minimum wage and increased funding for jobs and human services programs. (Associated Press)

House defeats minimum wage increase

The House on Friday rejected a Democratic push to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10, shooting down one of President Obama's priorities from his State of the Union speech.

March 15, 2013
In this Jan. 28, 2013 file photo, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Menendez’s office says he traveled on a plane owned by a Florida physician who is a friend and political donor, but denied that the senator had engaged with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Bipartisan proposal would add Hispanic museum to Mall

A bipartisan group of lawmakers Thursday proposed adding an American Latino museum to the Mall, saying it's time to recognize the growing public role and power of the Hispanic population in the U.S.

March 14, 2013
**FILE** Sen. Dianne Feinstein seeks to reimpose weapons bans that expired in 2004. The California Democrat’s current bill would go further than her 1994 law, which was sunsetted. (Associated Press)

Broadest gun ban in two decades clears Senate committee

Senate Democrats pushed the broadest gun ban in decades through the Judiciary Committee on Thursday, voting to halt sales of military-style semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines in what's likely to be the high-water mark for gun control after December's Newtown, Conn., shooting spree.

March 14, 2013
** FILE ** Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

CPAC 2013: Straw poll signals wide-open 2016 presidential race

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may not have been invited to speak at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference — but his name has made CPAC's presidential straw poll as one of the 23 listed hopefuls to be the GOP's nominee in 2016.

March 14, 2013

‘No sacred cows’ in Democratic spending plan

Four years after they last passed a budget through the Senate, Democrats announced a new blueprint for federal spending Wednesday that proposes significant tax increases, new stimulus spending and some budget cuts — making slight headway in controlling federal debt.

March 13, 2013
President Obama meets with Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 12, 2013. (Associated Press)

Obama to appeal recess appointment ruling to Supreme Court

President Obama will elevate the controversy over his recess appointment powers to the highest level, with the National Labor Relations Board announcing Tuesday it will appeal to the Supreme Court a lower-court ruling that held his appointments to the board were illegal.

March 12, 2013
**FILE** Gina McCarthy stands on stage in the East Room of the White House in Washington on March 4, 2013, as President Obama announced he would nominate McCarthy to head the EPA. (Associated Press)

EPA email: Goal was ‘shaming’ states into compliance

Internal EPA emails released Tuesday show an agency hostile to new energy production in the U.S. and an effort at "shaming" states into complying with Obama administration environmental priorities, according to the top Republican on the Senate environment committee.

March 12, 2013
National Geographic photographs An African lioness wears a camera around her neck in the exhibit "National Geographic Crittercam: The World Through Animal Eyes." Visitors can press buttons to see clips of the lions and other animals.

Sequester spending: Feds pay $227,000 to study magazine photographs

Some of the toughest sequester spending decisions involve taxpayer-financed research, where funding today can produce huge benefits tomorrow — but can the government really afford to spend $227,437 to study pictures of animals in National Geographic magazines?

March 11, 2013
Customs and Border Protection Officer Rebecca Rhinehart asks a passenger about something in his suitcase at Washington Dulles International Airport. Customs officers search for illegal drugs, plants, animal products and food items. (The Washington Times)

Court curbs laptop searches at U.S. border

The Border Patrol cannot confiscate or download every laptop or electronic device brought into the U.S., a federal appeals court said, ruling that people have an expectation their data are private and that the government must have "reasonable suspicion" before it starts to snoop.

March 8, 2013
**FILE** Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson (Associated Press)

Senator: EPA lied about using private emails

Environmental Protection Agency officials lied when they said a top official used his private email only once for public business, a Republican senator said Friday as he released copies of several emails in which that official conducted business with the EPA's director and with outside groups.

March 8, 2013
**FILE** John Brennan, then-nominee for CIA director, testifies Feb. 7, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. (Associated Press)

Senate confirms CIA director Brennan after Paul gets assurances

Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday his 13-hour filibuster was a success after Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. sent a letter saying the Obama administration does not think it is legal to use drones to kill non-combatant Americans on U.S. soil.

March 7, 2013
Rep. Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican (Associated Press) ** FILE **

House reaffirms sequesters in latest funding measure

With deadline fatigue setting in, a bipartisan House voted Wednesday to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, which would head off the potential for a government shutdown later this month.

March 6, 2013