Stephen Dinan

Supreme Court — for third time — denies GOP’s bid to use Republican-friendly maps in Missouri

The Supreme Court rejected Republicans' latest attempt to revive a GOP-tilted map for November's congressional elections, ruling for a third time that even though the state held primaries under the new map, the old one must be used.

September 26, 2026

NYC’s high school affirmative action policy challenged in Supreme Court

A New York City mother has asked the Supreme Court to step in and order her son be allowed to take a seat at the selective Stuyvesant High School, saying he's being blocked by affirmative action policies that punish him for being Asian American.

September 25, 2026

The IRS loses up to $304 billion a year to fraud. It still has no antifraud strategy

The IRS is a prime target for fraudsters, who bilk the tax agency out of as much as $300 billion a year in refunds or underpayments on taxes owed, according to a new analysis by Congress's top watchdog.

September 25, 2026

Supreme Court revives DHS’ database letting states check voters’ citizenship

The Supreme Court issued an order allowing the Department of Homeland Security to keep using a database that lets states scour their voter lists for ineligible noncitizens, saying the system appears to be lawful.

September 25, 2026

DHS takes ‘third countries’ deportation fight to Supreme Court

Homeland Security asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to step into a fight over the government's ability to remove illegal immigrants to 'third countries' when their homelands won't take them back.

September 24, 2026

Trump’s lawsuit against Iowa pollster, newspaper tossed by judge

An Iowa judge has shut down President Trump's lawsuit against Iowa pollster Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register, saying their flawed survey work is protected by the First Amendment.

September 24, 2026

ICE rushed to buy 11 warehouses for detention. Now it’s trying to sell 7 of them

ICE's effort to rapidly build its detention capacity has wasted millions of dollars as the Trump administration took a spend-first, ask-questions-later approach, the Government Accountability Office said in a withering audit Thursday.

September 24, 2026

New York’s climate law that tried to punish oil companies is ruled unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that New York's attempt to make fossil fuel companies pay up $75 billion to combat climate change was unconstitutional, delivering a victory to the Trump administration.

September 23, 2026

Woman spent 86 hours in solitary confinement over misused Flock camera report

Flock's CEO was a no-show at a Senate hearing Wednesday, where a Florida woman described being sent to jail after police, using a Flock license plate reader camera, erroneously accused her of being the driver in a fatal car crash.

September 23, 2026

Florida AG demands New York Times’ financial docs after reporter cites paper’s anti-Jewish slant

A New York Times journalist is alleging anti-Jewish sentiment inside the newsroom of the storied media outlet, including being told to delete a message supportive of Jewish colleagues.

September 23, 2026

Sen. Rand Paul to refer Fauci aide for prosecution after Democrats block immunity deal

Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday he will refer a longtime aide to Dr. Anthony Fauci to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, saying she had a "20-year history of destroying records" for him.

September 23, 2026

Supreme Court asked to halt Missouri’s gerrymandered map — again

Missouri's new Republican-friendly congressional map is back before the Supreme Court, where opponents are begging the justices to once again set the new districts aside and force November's election to take place under the old, more Democrat-tilted map.

September 23, 2026

Sanctuary clash: Virginia county shields drunk drivers from deportation, report shows

Arlington County prosecutors cut breaks to illegal immigrants facing drunk driving charges with the hope that a lower charge could help them avoid deportation, according to a congressional report that labels the left-leaning jurisdiction a sanctuary.

September 23, 2026

Supreme Court allows custody for parents who wanted surrogate mother to abort baby

A surrogate mother lost her bid Tuesday to gain control of the child she birthed, after Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan denied her petition.

September 22, 2026

Federal prosecutors say mailman tossed 300 mail-in ballots ahead of Utah primary

Federal prosecutors announced charges Tuesday against a former mailman who they accused of dumping about 300 mail-in ballots he was supposed to deliver ahead of Utah's primary election in June.

September 22, 2026

Trump administration inked $200,000-per-year contract for Flock cameras in D.C. area

It turns out Uncle Sam is part of the Flock family. A Trump administration agency is paying Flock Group $231,600 a year to host license plate reader cameras on roads around the Washington area, according to government contracting data.

September 22, 2026

Marsha Blackburn wants a national database on child trafficking rings before she exits Senate

Sen. Marsha Blackburn says the Justice Department doesn't have a central database to catalog child trafficking rings.

September 22, 2026

Trump asks Supreme Court to allow DHS detention of pro-Palestinian scholar

President Trump has asked the Supreme Court to hear a case involving a Georgetown University scholar who was targeted for deportation last year after a government artificial intelligence tool flagged his social media posts as too pro-Palestinian.

September 22, 2026

Judge rules against ICE on construction site raid; says agents also detained U.S. citizen too long

A federal judge issued an order Monday blocking ICE from raiding private construction sites without a warrant and from indiscriminately detaining people, saying both of those practices are likely unlawful.

September 21, 2026

Trump asks court to allow Kennedy Center’s closure for renovations

President Trump has asked a judge to remove his blockade and allow the full shutdown and renovation of the Kennedy Center, saying he's fixed the problems that led to the court issuing an injunction earlier this year.

September 19, 2026