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Articles by Stephen Dinan

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio defends the work of the GOP during a brief news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 31, 2014, as Congress prepares to leave for a five-week summer recess. The institutional split of a Republican-led House and Democratic-controlled Senate has added up to inaction, especially in a midterm election year with control of the Senate at stake. Lawmakers have struggled to compromise on a handful of bills to deal with the nation's pressing problems amid overwhelming partisanship.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

GOP leaders delay border bill, leave Obama in control

A conservative rebellion forced House leaders to pull their border bill from consideration on Thursday, leaving the GOP in disarray and putting pressure on President Obama to try to handle the situation without any extra money or powers from Congress.

July 31, 2014
** FILE ** House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio defends the work of the GOP during a brief news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 31, 2014, as Congress prepares to leave for a five-week summer recess. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Boehner accuses Obama of ‘legacy of lawlessness’

House Speaker John A. Boehner warned Thursday that President Obama has amassed a "legacy of lawlessness" during his tenure in office, and said that will only deepen if the White House tries to go it alone on immigration.

July 31, 2014
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 29, 2014, after a Democratic caucus meeting. Democrats and Republicans in Congress vowed urgent support for a $225 million missile defense package for Israel, boosting the likelihood that legislation will clear Congress before lawmakers begin a monthlong vacation at week's end.    (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Harry Reid threatens to cancel weekends

Congress is about to take a five-week summer vacation, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned Thursday that lawmakers will pay on the other end, giving up two full weekends back home in order to be in Washington re-voting on issues that have repeatedly failed.

July 31, 2014
President Barack Obama speaks about the economy, Wednesday, July 30, 2014, at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

House votes to sue President Obama over claims of presidential power

President Obama mocked Republicans for "just hatin' all the time" as the House voted to authorize an unprecedented lawsuit against the commander in chief, escalating a battle between Congress and the White House that is heavily tinged with election-year politics.

July 30, 2014
President Barack Obama speaks about the economy, Wednesday, July 30, 2014, at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Obama vows veto of House border bill

President Obama threatened Wednesday to veto the House's border-spending bill, saying it doesn't give him enough money, cancels key environmental protections and removes key judicial checks for the illegal immigrant children surging into the U.S.

July 30, 2014
** FILE ** Volunteer Stella Chambers, center, explains some of the Affordable Health Care Act to visitors to a health care coverage registration site hosted by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers, Monday, March 31, 2014, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Appeals court upholds Obamacare tax as constitutional

A key appeals court on Tuesday ruled that despite including a tax, Obamacare doesn't violate the Constitution's requirement that all tax bills originate in the House of Representatives, giving the Obama administration another health care win.

July 29, 2014
Various immigrant rights groups held separate demonstrations and carried different messages outside the White House on Monday, indicating splintering within the movement. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Border surge puts Obama legacy on immigration at stake

Immigrant rights groups suddenly find themselves playing political defense, pushing back against proposals to speed up deportations of people surging across the border illegally even while advocates plead with the White House to take politically risky executive action to halt deportations in the interior.

July 28, 2014
A border patrol vehicle stands guard at a section of collapsed fence just west of the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz., Sunday, July 27, 2014, after severe storms in southern Arizona over the weekend knocked down a chunk of the metal border fence that divides Mexico and the U.S. Rain runoff from the storms destroyed about 60 feet worth of fence and caused damage to homes just north of it. (AP Photo/Nogales International, Jonathan Clark)

Smugglers, rainstorm combine to poke holes in border fence

A rainstorm knocked over part of the border fence in Arizona this weekend, even as smugglers were cutting their way through another part of the fence less than a few miles away — leaving a hole big enough to drive a vehicle through, according to the Nogales International.

July 28, 2014
U.S. Air Force Capt. Philip Gunn participates in a flyover during the internment ceremony of Brig. Gen. Robinson Risner, Jan. 23, 2014, at Arlington National Cemetery. Risner was the Air Force's 20th ace and survived more than seven years of captivity as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. Gunn is a 336th Fighter Squadron weapons system officer assigned to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. (Courtesy photo)

Thousands of Defense Dept. employees behind on taxes: GAO

It turns out that even having high security clearance doesn't mean you are up to date on paying your taxes: the government's chief watchdog said Monday that 26,000 Defense Department workers and contractors with high clearances are in arrears.

July 28, 2014
Undocumented immigrant leaders protest along Pennsylvania Avenue near the entrance to White House on July 28, 2014. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Illegal immigrants demand representation in White House meetings

Illegal immigrants plan to picketed the White House Monday afternoon, calling on fellow immigrant-rights advocacy groups to refuse to meet with the Obama administration until President Obama specifically includes illegal immigrants in any future meetings.

July 28, 2014

Lois Lerner emails reveal gaping open-records loophole

The Lois G. Lerner emails released this month revealed a potentially huge loophole in federal open-records practices when an IRS tech staffer acknowledged that the agency doesn't regularly store — and never checks — instant message chats as official government records.

July 20, 2014
From left, Raul Amador Sanchez, 7, from Georgia, Alexandra Diaz, 9, and her brother Andy Diaz, 7, both from Baltimore, Md., hold up signs as they join their parent during a news conference of immigrant families and children’s advocates responding to the President Barack Obama’s response to the crisis of unaccompanied children and families illegally entering the US, Monday, July 7, 2014, on the steps of St. John's Church in Washington. A top Obama administration official says no one, not even children trying to escape violent countries, can illegally enter the United States without eventually facing deportation proceedings. But Homeland Security Sec Jeh Johnson basically acknowledged Sunday that such proceedings might be long delayed, and he said that coping with floods of unaccompanied minors crossing the border is a legal and humanitarian dilemma for the US. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Two-thirds of illegal immigrant children approved for asylum: report

Nearly two-thirds of unaccompanied illegal immigrant children requesting asylum this year have had their initial applications approved, the House Judiciary Committee reported Friday in data that suggests those kids surging across the border who ask to stay will likely be able to gain admission to the U.S.

July 18, 2014