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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Former Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, Virginia Republican

Redistricting sets up tussles for many congressional seats

The last time California redrew its congressional districts, Republicans and Democrats cut a deal to preserve all the incumbents, essentially erasing the country's biggest electoral fishing ground from the map in 2002.

November 6, 2011

Napolitano subpoenaed for illegals data

The House immigration subcommittee issued a subpoena Friday demanding Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano turn over records showing which illegal immigrants her department has declined to pursue deportation cases against.

November 4, 2011

Third Obama jobs bill blocked in Senate

President Obama is now 0-for-3 in his push to stimulate jobs after Republicans led a filibuster Thursday of his latest proposal to boost infrastructure spending.

November 3, 2011

House subpoenas White House for Solyndra documents

Showing a growing frustration with the Obama administration, congressional Republicans on Thursday authorized their second subpoena this week, this time demanding documents from the White House on contacts that President Obama's top aides might have had with failed solar-technology company Solyndra.

November 3, 2011
President Obama implores Congress to pass the infrastructure part of the American Jobs Act as he speaks on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, to a Washington audience that includes ironworkers and steamfitters at Georgetown Waterfront Park. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Obama calls for action by Congress on jobs bill

With yet another part of his jobs package on the line in Congress on Thursday, President Obama traveled across Washington on Wednesday to press his case — and claimed the support of the Almighty for his plans.

November 2, 2011
Rep. Lamar Smith (Associated Press)

Subpoena OK’d for ICE’s illegal-immigration data

Signaling growing unrest with the Obama administration's level of cooperation, House Republicans on an immigration subcommittee voted Wednesday to authorize a subpoena to get data on illegal immigrants against whom the government has declined to pursue deportation cases.

November 2, 2011
"Why would DHS want to keep this information from the committee? If there is nothing to hide, why wouldn't they provide Congress with these documents? Are administration officials concerned that the requested information will show that illegal and criminal immigrants intentionally released by ICE have gone on to commit more crimes?" — Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, Texas Republican

House GOP to subpoena immigration data

House Republicans are moving to subpoena a list of all immigrants whom the Obama administration has flagged under its secure communities program but failed to arrest for deportation, after the Homeland Security Department missed a congressionally imposed deadline to produce the information this week.

November 1, 2011
Holder

Justice Department sues over S. Carolina’s immigration law

The Justice Department sued Monday to block South Carolina's new immigration crackdown law, making it the third state to face such a challenge from the Obama administration, which argues only the federal government can decide immigration enforcement.

October 31, 2011
Republican presidential candidate Gary E. Johnson vows to submit a balanced budget his first year in the White House, a budget he said would amount to a 43 percent spending cut. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Johnson hits Perry on death penalty

Former New Mexico governor and current Republican presidential hopeful Gary E. Johnson said he saw the dangers of the death penalty up close during his two terms in office — and says he is convinced Texas has executed innocent people.

October 27, 2011
**FILE** House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican (Associated Press)

House OKs small part of Obama’s jobs plan

The House overwhelmingly passed a slim portion of President Obama's jobs package Thursday, but the striking outbreak of bipartisanship is likely short-lived with no easy follow-up bill on the schedule and both sides still avoiding compromise.

October 27, 2011
Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that she did not know why she wasn't briefed immediately on the gun-walking operation. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Napolitano queried on lack of ‘Fast and Furious’ probe

Congressional Republicans are trying to expand the scope of questions over the disastrous ATF gun-sting operation "Fast and Furious" to Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano, asking her why she never investigated even after suspected guns showed up at the scene of a dead U.S. Border Patrol agent.

October 26, 2011
**FILE** President Obama speaks Oct. 17, 2011, at West Wilkes High School in Millers Creek, N.C., where his three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act made a stop. (Associated Press)

White House backs House GOP jobs bill

Signaling a brief spark of bipartisanship in Washington, the White House on Tuesday said it backs House Republicans' effort to repeal a 3 percent withholding tax on government contractors, which is part of the GOP's own job-creation push.

October 25, 2011
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat

Senate Dems begin push to repeal federal marriage law

Senate Democrats next week will begin a push to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defines marriage for federal purposes and, to date, has meant states don't have to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

October 25, 2011
Sen. John Boozman, Arkansas Republican

Senators flout own immigration law on worker verification

Sen. John Boozman is co-sponsoring a bill that would require every employer in the country to use the E-Verify program to screen for illegal workers — but until earlier this month, the senator himself wasn't signed up for the system, thus violating a 1996 law that makes its use mandatory for all congressional offices.

October 24, 2011

Withholding tax comes back to bite businesses

The last time Congress went on a deficit-cutting spree, lawmakers thought they had settled on a great way to squeeze more money from deadbeat contractors: Withhold 3 percent of all government contracts to make sure those companies paid their full tax bills each year.

October 23, 2011
**FILE** Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican (Associated Press)

Senators find sweet spot in ending benefits to millionaires

Finding a rare piece of common ground when it comes to spending limits, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate voted overwhelmingly Friday morning to cut off federal farm payment handouts to farmers who already make more than $1 million a year.

October 21, 2011
**FILE** President Obama speaks Oct. 17, 2011, at West Wilkes High School in Millers Creek, N.C., where his three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act made a stop. (Associated Press)

Obama’s jobs bill fails second Senate test

After halting President Obama's entire $447 billion jobs-stimulus bill last week, the Senate blocked a $35 billion slice of the package in a late-night filibuster vote Thursday that highlighted the lingering questions among both parties over the White House's plans.

October 20, 2011

$3.2B wrongly taken in tuition tax credits

The federal government wrongly paid as much as $3.2 billion in college-tuition tax credits in the first five months of 2010, including payments to more than 1.7 million people who apparently weren't qualifying undergraduates, according to a new oversight report.

October 20, 2011
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano speaks with Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (right), Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, prior to her testimony before the panel on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Napolitano tells panel 400,000 deported in year

Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano says her department has the resources to deport about 400,000 aliens each year, and the new guidance her department issued will only change the makeup of who gets deported.

October 19, 2011