Stephen Dinan

Trump starts the firing even before his term begins

President-elect Donald Trump's iconoclastic approach to nominations isn't just the people he's picking -- it's the people he's looking to fire.

December 16, 2024

FBI deploy new tech to try to figure out drones

FBI and Homeland Security authorities are now using infrared cameras to try to figure out what's going on with the drones spotted flying over New Jersey and other parts of the Atlantic seaboard, according to a report Monday.

December 16, 2024

Judges defy Trump by revoking retirements, blocking him from naming replacements

The anti-Trump resistance is spreading to the federal courts, where three judges have now rescinded their retirement decisions in moves that will block President Trump from picking their replacements.

December 15, 2024

Appeals court judge rescinds retirement after Trump’s election victory

A federal appeals court judge has rescinded his decision to retire, becoming the third judge to decide not to give President-elect Donald Trump a chance to fill his seat.

December 14, 2024

New Jersey rejects Biden’s airplane explanation for drone sightings

The Biden administration's claim that the drones over New Jersey are mostly regular aircraft isn't sitting well with the state's residents or politicians, who say it's a demeaning explanation, given what people have seen with their own eyes.

December 13, 2024

Feds say New Jersey drones are actually airplanes

Two federal agencies said Thursday that most of the drone sightings reported in New Jersey in recent weeks are actually manned aircraft that people on the ground are mistaking for mysterious unmanned aerial vehicles.

December 12, 2024

Informants stormed U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6; no evidence of undercover agents

The FBI had more than two dozen informants in Washington surrounding the chaos of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and four of them entered the building as part of the protests, an inspector general said.

December 12, 2024

Biden’s supercharged IRS nets $1.3 billion more from wealthy taxpayers

The IRS on Thursday said it has sweated an additional $1.3 billion from wealthy tax cheats, thanks to enhanced reviews and audits paid for by the budget-climate law President Biden signed two years ago.

December 12, 2024

Feds spent $500,000 to promote atheism in Britain

The State Department sent about $500,000 in taxpayer money to a British-based humanist outfit that promoted atheism in Nepal and another that helped pregnant migrants to the U.S. obtain abortions, according to a new congressional report.

December 12, 2024

Van Drew doubles down on drone claims, says it could be Iran or China

Rep. Jeff Van Drew told the Pentagon on Thursday to put up or shut up after a military spokeswoman dismissed his claim that the drones swarming over New Jersey are Iranian in origin.

December 12, 2024

Trump rings in NYSE after Time Person of the Year distinction

President-elect Donald Trump rang the famous bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, basking in the glow of his pending inauguration and status as Time magazine's Person of the Year.

December 12, 2024

Trump vows pardons for Jan. 6 defendants ‘in the first hour’; named Time’s Person of the Year

President-elect Donald Trump, in an interview published Thursday, said he will pardon people who took part in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol immediately upon taking office and offered new details about his deportation plans, saying he will use the military "to the maximum level of what the law allows."

December 12, 2024

Trump to name Kari Lake to lead housecleaning at VOA

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Kari Lake to take over as director of Voice of America.

December 11, 2024

Antony Blinken defends Afghanistan withdrawal, says things didn’t turn out too bad

Secretary of State Antony Blinken personally apologized Wednesday to the families of 13 U.S. troops killed by a suicide bomber during America's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, but said the withdrawal itself has not turned out as badly as his critics had feared.

December 11, 2024

Congressman claims New Jersey drones are from Iranian ‘mothership’

Rep. Jeff Van Drew said Wednesday that the drones detected flying over New Jersey in recent weeks are being operated by Iran.

December 11, 2024

Rep. Cory Mills spanks Secretary Blinken over Gaza rescues: ‘I was there. Were you?’

Rep. Cory Mills slammed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday for what he said was a sluggish response last year to Hamas's attack on Israel and Americans trapped in Palestinian-controlled territory, with the lawmaker saying he had to personally make rescues.

December 11, 2024

Blinken apologizes to families of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan pullout

Secretary of State Antony Blinken personally apologized Wednesday to the families of the 13 U.S. troops killed in a suicide bombing during the final days of the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, saying he wished the Biden team had done better.

December 11, 2024

Sen. Joni Ernst tells Commerce Department to stop spending spree

Sen. Joni Ernst blasted the Commerce Department on Tuesday for its attempt to dump billions of dollars in cash before the end of the Biden administration.

December 11, 2024

New Jersey drones stump FBI; lawmakers furious at federal inaction

U.S. officials said they're not sure what to make of the swarms of drones detected flying over New Jersey in recent weeks, sparking outrage from lawmakers who said it makes the government look incompetent.

December 10, 2024

FBI miffed over mystery drones above New Jersey

The mystery drones detected flying over New Jersey in recent weeks are "concerning" and the FBI does not know who is operating them, a senior bureau official told Congress on Tuesday.

December 10, 2024