Stephen Dinan

Nancy Pelosi: Too many superdelegates in nomination process

The Democratic Party relies too heavily on superdelegates to pick its presidential nominees, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday -- though she downplayed the current dispute between party leaders and Sen. Bernard Sanders.

May 19, 2016

House investigator calls for IRS chief to be censured over Lois Lerner emails

The House's chief investigator introduced a resolution Wednesday censuring IRS Commissioner John Koskinen and calling for him to resign or be fired, saying he misled Congress and even tried to thwart a subpoena seeking former agency employee Lois G. Lerner's emails.

May 18, 2016

Donald Trump unveils list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices

Donald Trump offered up a list of 11 potential Supreme Court nominees Wednesday, as the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee sought to reassure conservatives he understands the importance of the high court battle already raging.

May 18, 2016

Donald Trump agrees to raise money for RNC

Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee announced late Tuesday they've reached an agreement to have him raise money for the party, breaking the candidate's previous stance against active fundraising for his political campaign.

May 17, 2016

Federal judge overturns Kansas law, says voters don’t have to prove citizenship to register

Requiring would-be voters to prove their citizenship when they try to register at motor vehicle bureaus is a burden on their right to vote, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, striking down Kansas's law.

May 17, 2016

Donald Trump tells Megyn Kelly that November loss would make campaign ‘complete waste’

In a heavily hyped sit-down with Megyn Kelly on Fox, Donald Trump put himself on the therapist's couch, talking about his reaction to their spats during the campaign, to his brother's struggle with addiction and to criticism for failing to reel in his tongue.

May 17, 2016

Senate dismisses Obama veto threat, OKs bill to sue Saudi govt. over terror attacks

Brushing aside a veto threat from President Obama, the Senate approved legislation Tuesday granting Americans the right to sue and collect damages from foreign countries deemed to have been complicit in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.

May 17, 2016

Top conservative group rejects Facebook summit, says bias runs too deep

The American Conservative Union has rejected Facebook's offer to be part of a meeting this week to discuss the online giant's liberal bias, saying the issues run deeper than a single meeting or an algorithm that slights conservatives.

May 17, 2016

White House cites executive privilege, keeps Obama adviser from testifying about Iran nuclear deal

After congressional Republicans called his bluff, President Obama's deputy national security adviser refused Tuesday to testify to Congress about whether he misled the public in pushing the Iran nuclear deal, citing executive privilege in declining to appear.

May 17, 2016

Group seeks to force Hillary Clinton to testify under oath about emails

A conservative legal group asked a judge Monday to order Hillary Clinton to face deposition under oath about her role in creating the secret email account she used as secretary at the State Department.

May 16, 2016

Democrats blast Benghazi probe amid new Pentagon questions

Democrats demanded Monday that Congress cancel the special investigation into the Benghazi terrorist attack and accused committee Chairman Trey Gowdy of straying into dangerous political territory while searching for a reason to continue its probe.

May 16, 2016

Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton blast Obama administration’s planned illegal immigration raids

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was interrupted while delivering a high school graduation speech this weekend as immigrant-rights activists stepped up their protests against a new round of planned raids to ship illegal immigrants home.

May 15, 2016

Sheriff Joe Arpaio found in contempt of court over racial profiling case

A federal judge in Arizona found Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in contempt of court Friday, saying the controversial lawman deliberately violated court orders, hid evidence and failed to clean up after his department was found to be conducting illegal racial profiling.

May 13, 2016

House to hold IRS ‘impeachment’ hearing for Koskinen over Lerner emails

House Republicans on Friday announced hearings to investigate whether IRS Commissioner John Koskinen misled Congress and violated a subpoena, taking the first steps that could ultimately lead to his impeachment over the tax agency's tea party targeting.

May 13, 2016

Congress ducks open-records law as judges reject plea to see torture report

The federal government doesn't have to release the full post-9/11 torture report, an appeals court ruled Friday, saying that Congress remains beyond the scope of the Freedom of Information Act even when it shares its records with agencies that are subject to open-records laws.

May 13, 2016

Donald Trump’s agenda a mystery as interviews contradict position papers

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee has released a handful of position papers, but other than immigrants and guns, Donald Trump has left most of his agenda blank, giving others a chance to help him fill in the details more to their liking.

May 12, 2016

Homeland Security signals new round of raids for illegals in child, family surge

Immigration authorities signaled a new series of upcoming roundups of illegal immigrant families that surged across the border in recent years, drawing a fierce rebuke Thursday from advocacy groups who said President Obama could pay a political price among Hispanics.

May 12, 2016

Paul Ryan, Donald Trump agree on principles

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said he and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump found agreement on core conservative principles in a "pleasant" meeting Thursday, including pro-life values and the importance of limited government.

May 12, 2016

White House calls waste study ‘pathetic’

The outrage over federal money being spent to study penis bee stings doesn't extend to the White House, where President Obama's spokesman said Wednesday the government should be opening its pocketbook wider.

May 11, 2016

Ted Cruz files to run again for Senate in 2018

Looking to tamp down on any speculation that he was a flash-in-the-pan senator, Ted Cruz announced Wednesday that he's already filed to run for re-election in 2018 in Texas

May 11, 2016