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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky challenged the Republican Party establishment to win his seat in 2010. He started a nearly 13-hour filibuster Wednesday, demanding assurances that the Obama administration would not use drones in the U.S. to kill terrorist suspects. (Associated Press)

After almost 13 hours, Rand Paul ends Brennan filibuster

After years in the shadows, the administration's secret drone program burst into very public view Wednesday with lawmakers grilling the attorney general over legal justification for targeted killings and Sen. Rand Paul launching an old-style one-man filibuster to demand answers from President Obama.

March 6, 2013
President Obama announces in the East Room of the White House in Washington March 4, 2013, he will nominate, Gina McCarthy to head the EPA; MIT physics professor Ernest Moniz for Energy Secretary; and Walmart Foundation President Sylvia Mathews Burwell to head the Budget Office. (Associated Press)

Email tells feds to make sequester as painful as promised

The White House announced Tuesday that it is canceling tours of the president's home for the foreseeable future as the sequester spending cuts begin to bite and the administration makes good on its warnings of painful decisions.

March 5, 2013
**FILE** Demonstrators carry signs during a rally on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 5, 2006, in support of a bill to ban horse slaughter for human consumption. (Associated Press)

Horse meat slaughter poised to return to U.S.

Animal rights groups are bracing for the federal government to license the first horse-meat slaughter plant in the U.S. since 2007, criticizing the Obama administration Friday for moving ahead with the application process.

March 1, 2013
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada (right) and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, face reporters Thursday on Capitol Hill to talk about the automatic government spending cuts that take effect Friday. (Associated Press)

Even at 2.3%, sequester cuts can cause some pain

In theory, it shouldn't be tough to trim 2.3 percent from the federal budget — the size of the sequesters, compared with the overall budget. But the way Congress and President Obama wrote the sequester cuts taking effect Friday means that some deep pain will be inevitable.

February 28, 2013
**FILE** Danny Werfel (Associated Press)

Federal bonuses are early casualty in sequestration

The White House budget office has told federal agencies to slow down new hiring, curtail travel and conferences, and to stop doling out bonuses unless absolutely required to by law, according to a new memo released late Wednesday.

February 28, 2013
** FILE ** Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Virginia Republican, is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. (Associated Press)

House refuses Obama’s demand to rush immigration reform

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee laid out a go-slow approach on immigration Wednesday, saying he doesn't think having President Obama write a bill and demand that Congress vote on it would be successful.

February 27, 2013
**FILE** Illegal immigrants prepare to enter a bus after being processed at the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector headquarters on Aug. 9, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. (Associated Press)

White House: ICE to blame for release of illegals

The White House said Wednesday it had nothing to do with the decision by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release immigrants awaiting deportation back into the country in order to save money ahead of the looming budget "sequesters."

February 27, 2013
**FILE** Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel testifies Jan. 31, 2013, before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Associated Press)

Hagel wins confirmation to be new defense secretary

Chuck Hagel survived a rocky process and won Senate confirmation to become the next secretary of defense, surmounting a fizzled Republican filibuster on Tuesday — though he takes office chastened and potentially damaged.

February 26, 2013

IRS audit finds ‘millions’ in waste

Everyone always wants the latest technology, but a government auditor said Tuesday that the Internal Revenue Service wasted millions of dollars on BlackBerrys and wireless modem aircards that employees don't need or even use.

February 19, 2013
** FILE ** Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, is House Oversight Committee chairman. (Associated Press)

Federal salary freeze passes House

The House voted Friday morning to freeze civilian federal salaries for another year as lawmakers continue to look under every cushion for money they can squeeze out of the budget.

February 15, 2013
**FILE** Republican Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies Jan. 31, 2013, before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill. (Associated Press)

Chuck Hagel filibustered by GOP for defense post

Republicans succeeded Thursday in blocking a vote on Chuck Hagel, President Obama's defense secretary nominee, by launching the first filibuster in history against a president's choice to fill the Pentagon's top civilian post.

February 14, 2013