Stephen Dinan

Senate passes short-term spending stopgap

The Senate on Tuesday cleared the last must-pass bill of the year, a stopgap spending measure that funds basic government operations through March 4 at the same rate as in 2010.

December 21, 2010

Hot off the press: Obsolete bill costs $78,000 to print

Sometimes in Congress, the physical size of the bill matters.

December 20, 2010

Senate repeals ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’

Setting the stage for a major social change, the Senate voted Saturday to overturn the military's policy banning openly gay and lesbian troops, know as "don't ask, don't tell," sending the repeal to President Obama for his signature.

December 18, 2010

Senate rejects legalization for illegal immigrant students

In a final showdown on immigration legislation, the Senate on Saturday blocked a bill to grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant children and young adults, likely taking the issue off the table for several years.

December 18, 2010

House approves tax-cut compromise bill

Staving off the largest tax increase in history, lawmakers Friday morning passed President Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans through the House after fending off a last-minute effort to increase the estate tax beyond what was proposed.

December 16, 2010

Reid pulls $1.1T omnibus spending bill

Senate Democrats conceded defeat Thursday and pulled their $1.1 trillion spending bill loaded with earmarks from the chamber floor, stymied by Republicans who unified to block the massive bill in the final days of a contentious session of Congress.

December 16, 2010

Reid: Earmarks are ‘what we’re supposed to do’

Preparing for a final showdown on the massive $1.1 trillion spending bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid defended the thousands of earmarks in the measure as the basic function of Congress.

December 16, 2010

Senate votes to begin debate on START

The Senate voted Wednesday to begin debating a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia in a test vote that signals the treaty — which would cut the number of nuclear weapons that the U.S. and Russia have deployed — has enough support to be ratified.

December 15, 2010

Senate approves Obama-GOP tax-cut deal

Taking a major step toward staving off the largest tax increase in history, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to pass the tax-cut deal President Obama and congressional Republicans struck last week.

December 15, 2010

Senate strongly backs continued tax cuts

Taking a major step toward staving off the largest tax increase in history, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to pass the tax-cut deal President Obama and congressional Republicans struck last week.

December 15, 2010

Senate’s agenda grows as the clock ticks

Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a broad agenda for an end-of-session sprint that otherwise could be a whole year's worth of activity — including an arms-reduction treaty with Russia, a major immigration reform bill and legislation overturning the ban on openly gay military service members.

December 14, 2010

Reid threatens to keep Congress into next year

Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a broad agenda for an end-of-session sprint that, in other years, could be a whole year's worth of activity.

December 14, 2010

Ruling hinged in part on terminology

When Congress was writing the health care bill, lawmakers insisted the individual mandate that consumers buy insurance was backed up by a penalty, not a tax. On Monday, that decision came back to bite them.

December 13, 2010

Tax-cut deal clears big hurdle in Senate

In an overwhelming bipartisan vote the Senate on Monday cleared a path for the tax-cut deal President Obama struck with Republicans last week, with even former staunch opponents of the Bush-era tax cuts voting for their extension.

December 13, 2010

Dems’ sales pitch derails health-care law

When Congress was writing the health-care bill, lawmakers insisted the individual mandate that consumers buy insurance was backed up by a penalty, not a tax. On Monday, that decision came back to bite them.

December 13, 2010

Obama, GOP wrote deal in red ink

Republicans wanted more tax cuts. Democrats wanted more spending. They got both in the tax-cut deal President Obama struck with the GOP, and it's the federal budget that will take the hit.

December 12, 2010

Senate vote eyed for tax-cut deal

The lame-duck Congress careened Thursday toward a conclusion after lawmakers cleared the nice-but-not-essential bills out of the way and settled down to the serious work on the must-pass tax-cut legislation.

December 9, 2010

DREAM immigration legislation hits Senate snag

Senate Democrats voted Thursday to block their own immigration legalization bill, dealing a setback to the effort just a day after the House approved a similar bill to grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant children and young adults.

December 9, 2010

House Democrats push through bill to legalize children of illegals

Riding a late White House push and driven by impassioned pleas by children of illegal immigrants, House Democrats on Wednesday night forced through a bill that would legalize hundreds of thousands of children and young adults brought here illegally by their parents.

December 8, 2010

House acts to block closing of Gitmo

Congress on Wednesday signaled it won't close the prison at Guantanamo Bay or allow any of its suspected terrorist detainees to be transferred to the U.S., dealing what is likely the final blow to President Obama's campaign pledge to shutter the facility in Cuba.

December 8, 2010