Stephen Dinan

OPM audit: Federal background check system vulnerable to cyberattack

The federal agency that lost millions of Americans' most personal data to hackers has long been delinquent on its cybersecurity controls -- including in two particularly sensitive systems that govern most of the government's background checks, an inspector general will tell Congress on Tuesday.

June 16, 2015

121 murders attributed to illegals released by Obama administration

More than 100 immigrants whom the Obama administration released back into the community went on to be charged with subsequent killings, according to government data released Monday that raises more questions about whether immigration authorities are doing enough to detail illegal immigrants awaiting deportation.

June 15, 2015

GOP tells Obama to ditch a bad Iran nuclear deal

President Obama has caved on too many of his own goals for stopping Iran's nuclear program, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee charged Monday in a letter to the White House urging Mr. Obama to be ready to walk away from the negotiations.

June 15, 2015

Jason Chaffetz may subpoena Office of Personnel Management to testify on identity theft

The House's top investigator said in an interview Sunday that he may have to subpoena the Office of Personnel Management to testify next week after Obama administration officials resisted his request to come before Congress and detail the massive identity theft revealed last week.

June 14, 2015

Clinton administration bankrupted CIA ahead of 9/11, ex-director says

The Clinton administration had bankrupted the intelligence community and refused to let the CIA prioritize anti-terrorism over other major priorities in the late 1990s, leaving the agency stretched too thin in the days ahead of the 2001 terrorist attacks, former Director George J. Tenet said in a 2005 document declassified Friday.

June 12, 2015

Democrats kill Obama’s trade push

House Democrats defied President Obama Friday and doomed his ambitions of a legacy-defining trade deal, undoing a carefully orchestrated chain of events that was supposed to lead to triumphant approval of fast-track trade negotiating powers.

June 12, 2015

House votes to block NSA snooping through Americans’ emails

Riding a wave of anti-government snooping sentiment, the House voted Thursday to stop the intelligence community from poring over Americans' emails and other data scooped up as part of its dragnet collection.

June 11, 2015

House clears first trade bill, setting stage for Friday showdown

The House cleared the first piece of the complex package of trade bills Thursday, easily approving preferences for Haiti and African countries in a move President Obama and GOP leaders hoped would pave the way for the bigger votes later this week.

June 11, 2015

Jeff Flake takes aim at ‘Jurassic pork’ earmarks

Congress may have banned new earmarks, but one senator said Thursday that federal law is still littered with billions of dollars worth of old earmarks that were never spent -- but still could be if a spendthrift administration decided to do so.

June 11, 2015

Border Patrol sued over immigrant detention conditions

The ACLU and other immigrant rights groups are asking a federal court to clean up Border Patrol detention facilities in Arizona, arguing Wednesday that illegal immigrants are held for too long, kept in cold, smelly cells, starved and denied medical care, and left without toilet paper or beds.

June 10, 2015

Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger, nominee for TSA chief, likely to face ‘inefficiencies’

The man President Obama tapped to head the TSA said travelers may have to face more "inefficiencies" in the short term as the agency has to deal with a 96 percent failure rate in tests of whether screeners could spot weapons and explosives.

June 10, 2015

GOP leaders move to cut immigration out of trade talks

GOP leaders moved to ban President Obama from negotiating global warming policy and changes to U.S. immigration policy in any new trade deal, working feverishly Wednesday to secure final support as they prepare for a Friday showdown on granting the White House fast-track trade authority.

June 10, 2015

Democrats seek budget summit, see possible shutdown

Senate Democrats demanded a new bipartisan budget summit, saying Tuesday that the blueprint the GOP crafted and passed through Congress little more than a month ago is a non-starter that could lead the government into another shutdown.

June 9, 2015

Immigrants with criminal records go free in U.S. because home countries refuse to accept them

Hundreds of Cuban criminals are released onto the streets of the U.S. every year because that nation won't take them back -- even though the Obama administration is trying to broker a more open relationship with the communist island nation.

June 9, 2015

Franken-trade: Deal’s ‘living agreement’ provision takes fire

The secret Pacific trade deal President Obama is negotiating contains a "living agreement" provision that could allow it to change and grow, including eventually roping China into the group of nations involved, according to lawmakers who are demanding more transparency before they give the White House fast-track powers.

June 9, 2015

Jeh Johnson: Illegal immigration lowest since 1972

Illegal immigration across the southwestern border is on pace for the lowest year since 1972, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday, claiming success a year after the surge of illegal immigrant children and families exposed major holes in U.S. policy.

June 8, 2015

Obama derides judge who blocked amnesty

President Obama scoffed at the "individual district court judge" who blocked his deportation amnesty, insisting Monday that he still believes his policy is legal despite repeated legal setbacks and vowing to push ahead where he can on aiding illegal immigrants.

June 8, 2015

Jason Chaffetz, Blake Farenthold assess Mexico border security after drug cartel attack on border

Two top members of Congress headed to the border Sunday to investigate a drug cartel attack on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter, which raised more concerns about escalating violence spilling north.

June 7, 2015

Paul Ryan, Obama seek House votes for fast-track trade by end-of-month deadline

House Republican leaders Thursday set an end-of-month deadline for passing fast-track trade powers, kicking off an all-out push that will test their surprising alliance with President Obama as they search for the final votes to win a majority.

June 4, 2015

Data breach: Chinese hackers stole 4 million federal employees’ personal information

China-based hackers stole sensitive personal information on as many as 4 million current and former federal employees from government computers, officials said Thursday, underscoring the growing threats to data stored even in what are supposed to be the most secure of systems.

June 4, 2015