Stephen Dinan

White House turns to cat pictures to sell Obamacare

With the deadline for enrolling in the Obamacare exchanges just days away, the White House is scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas — including turning to cat GIFs, or animated videos made of multiple still photos.

March 24, 2014

A Ukraine divide: Congress, world leaders debate how to counter Russia

President Obama will try to forge a consensus on Ukraine when he meets this week with top allies in Europe, but he has had trouble winning unity even back home, where Democrats and Republicans are sparring over the outlines of U.S. policy, including military and financial aid.

March 23, 2014

U.S. officials on Putin’s list mock his sanctions on travel and banks

Sens. John McCain and Dan Coats joked that their vacation plans for Siberia are off after they found themselves on a list of nine U.S. officials and lawmakers hit with sanctions Thursday by Russia, in a tit-for-tat retaliation that signaled an escalation in the diplomatic battle over Ukraine.

March 20, 2014

Reid ups stakes in CIA-Senate clash with request for forensics test

Majority Leader Harry Reid escalated the Senate's battle with the Obama administration over CIA snooping this week, saying he's ordered a forensic examination to try to get to the bottom of accusations that the spy agency improperly searched congressional computers.

March 20, 2014

House issues subpoena for gun sting operation documents

Saying they've been stonewalled for a year, the House's top investigator sent a subpoena Thursday demanding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives turn over documents on a storefront sting operation that went badly awry.

March 20, 2014

Pelosi: Obama is ‘non-partisan’ president

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that President Obama is the least partisan president she has worked with during her extensive time in Washington, and said the problem lies with the GOP.

March 20, 2014

Ruling lets states require proof of citizenship from anyone who registers to vote

A U.S. District Court judge ruled Wednesday that Arizona and Kansas can require anyone registering to vote to prove their citizenship and the federal Election Assistance Commission cannot block them.

March 19, 2014

Feds to reform security clearance system to prevent insider attacks

The Obama administration missed warnings in the background check of the Washington Navy Yard shooter and promised major changes.

March 18, 2014

Too little, too late? Obamacare sign-ups rise as deadline looms

Five million people have now signed up for health plans through Obamacare's exchanges, the administration announced Monday, arguing they are seeing a last-minute surge of interest ahead of the March 31 deadline.

March 17, 2014

Abbas tells Obama window for Israel peace deal is closing

President Obama pushed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday for a breakthrough in the peace process, saying all sides know what sacrifices need to be made as they hurtle toward a U.S.-imposed April deadline for concrete progress.

March 17, 2014

Rules that keep feds from trolling Facebook, Twitter could have led to Snowden, Alexis

Most businesses regularly "Google" job applicants to see whether any red flags appear, but federal agencies generally shun checking social media websites — giving up a tool, analysts say, that could be helpful in weeding out everything from disability and immigration fraud to unsavory people trying to gain top-secret security clearance.

March 16, 2014

Clinton White House thought Hillary had secret to reaching Catholic voters

The Clinton White House believed Hillary Rodham Clinton had figured out a way to reach Catholic voters while still disagreeing on big issues such as abortion rights, according to new memos released Friday by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.

March 14, 2014

Senators deluged by complaints void 2-year-old flood insurance plan before 10-day break

Just two years after it fixed the federal flood insurance program to make homeowners pay premiums commensurate with their risk, Congress on Thursday reversed some of those reforms, bowing to political pressure from constituents shocked at how high their premiums jumped.

March 13, 2014

Obama calls for ‘more humane’ deportation policy

President Obama has ordered his new Homeland Security secretary to look for ways to "more humanely" enforce immigration laws, the White House said Thursday.

March 13, 2014

Senators reach deal on unemployment benefits

Senators said Thursday they have reached a deal on a bill to renew federal unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless, announcing a bipartisan agreement that appears likely to have enough votes to clear a filibuster.

March 13, 2014

Boehner invites Pope Francis to address Congress

House Speaker John A. Boehner sent an open-ended invitation Thursday asking Pope Francis to address a joint meeting of Congress, in what would appear to be a first for a leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

March 13, 2014

Harry Reid: ‘I’m not afraid of the Koch brothers’

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid renewed his crusade against the Koch brothers Thursday, and demanded that Republicans disavow the two men who have spent tens of millions of dollars to back conservative causes.

March 13, 2014

GOP bill tries to pull courts into fight with Obama on executive power, enforcing laws

Tired of watching helplessly from the sidelines as President Obama decided how to enforce the laws they wrote, House Republicans on Wednesday pushed back, passing a bill they said would at least rope in the courts to serve as potential referees between the branches of government.

March 12, 2014

Sen. Saxby Chambliss urges caution in CIA-Senate clash

The top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee pushed back Wednesday against accusations that the CIA snooped through congressional computers, saying that the facts are still too murky to draw any firm conclusions and a special investigator may have to be enlisted to sort it all out.

March 12, 2014

Female TSA officers say pat-down duty leads to workplace discrimination

Female TSA officers are in such high demand to conduct pat-downs that they get pigeonholed as checkpoint workers and miss out on chances for other experience that would earn them promotions, a top member of Congress said Tuesday.

March 12, 2014