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The Anti-Weaponization Fund: Trump’s $1.776 billion plan may be down — but is it out?

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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Rep. Paul Broun. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

House approves Ron Paul’s ‘Audit the Fed’ bill

Former Rep. Ron Paul's push to audit the Federal Reserve got another boost Wednesday when the House passed the bill for the second time in three years, and by a bigger margin than before.

September 17, 2014
Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Wisconsin Republican (Associated Press) **FILE**

Sensenbrenner: Time to dissolve ATF

A top Republican House member on Wednesday proposed eliminating the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, writing a bill that would freeze all hiring at the troubled agency and require the Justice Department to come up with a plan for transferring its duties to other agencies.

September 17, 2014
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, from left, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, and National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen testify before the House Homeland Security Full Committee during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson opposes White House on Libya visas

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will not lift the ban that keeps Libyans from coming to study aviation or nuclear sciences in the U.S., he told Congress on Wednesday, pushing back against an initiative supported by the State Department and the White House.

September 17, 2014
architects: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey remain in the process of continuing to shape Obama administration activities to rout the Islamic State terrorist group. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Pentagon open to U.S. ground troops in fight against Islamic State

The Pentagon's top general opened the door Tuesday to the possibility that U.S. combat troops would be needed in Iraq, as he publicly laid out President Obama's still-developing plans to combat Islamic State insurgents through U.S. air power and relying on an as-yet-unformed coalition of Muslim and Arab allies.

September 16, 2014
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, left, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey testify concerning the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., Tuesday, September 16, 2014. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

U.S. troops in Iraq to rise to 1,600

There will be 1,600 U.S. troops in Iraq by the time President Obama's current plans are fully in place — but none of those are considered combat troops, which means the U.S. is not officially reengaged in the war there, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress on Tuesday.

September 16, 2014
President Barack Obama salutes as he arrives on the South Lawn of the White House, on Friday, Sept. 12, 2014, in Washington. Obama traveled to the Fort McHenry historic site that is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore, and also attended a private Democratic fundraiser. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Congress demands Obama act to keep Islamic terrorists out of U.S.

While President Obama is focused on getting money to friendly-ish Syrian rebels, Congress is increasingly demanding he take more steps to stop militant fighters from coming to the U.S. by stripping Americans of their passports if they join the fight and by suspending countries that have large contingents of foreign fighters from the Visa Waiver Program.

September 15, 2014
Republican Reps. Trent Franks, Matt Salmon and David Schweikert wrote a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki on Tuesday, citing reports that officials at the Phoenix Veterans Health Care System had kept a "secret list" of patient requests in order to conceal the fact that some patients were being made to wait more. "As a direct result of such practices, the deaths of over 40 veterans have come to light," they wrote in the letter. (associated press photographs)

Both sides of Congress have own red lines for Obama’s action in Syria

Congress appears ready to give President Obama the $500 million he wants to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels, possibly as soon as next week, but anything beyond that remained murky, including whether lawmakers will back the commander in chief if he expands airstrikes to include targets in Syria.

September 11, 2014
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., emerge from a two-hour, closed door meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, with fellow Republicans to consider the proposals from President Barack Obama to combat Islamic State militants in the heart of the Middle East. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Boehner: Give Obama what he’s asking for

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Congress should approve President Obama's request for money to equip and train Syrian rebels, but said that's only the beginning of a strategy to destroy the Islamic State.

September 11, 2014
Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and three of his top aides have used personal email accounts for government business, feeding the growing legal storm over secret accounts and how much access the public should have to those records. (Associated Press/File)

No current intelligence Islamic State plotting attacks on U.S.: Homeland Security

There is no current intelligence suggesting Islamic State militants are plotting attacks on the U.S., Homeland Security officials told Congress on Wednesday, but they acknowledged the dangers of a terrorist trying to sneak across a porous southern border or a lone wolf attack inspired by the insurgents' advances in Iraq and Syria.

September 10, 2014