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Articles by Stephen Dinan

House Speaker John A. Boehner says the looming sequesters and resulting budget cuts would be like "taking a meat ax to our government." Eager to buy time and avoid economic pain, President Obama urged Congress to pass targeted measures. (Associated Press)

Panic rises as sequesters grow near

Deadline legislating is once again the talk of Washington, with all sides now demanding an end to the automatic spending sequesters — even though just a few weeks ago many of them seemed to be bracing, or in some cases even welcoming, the $85 billion in cuts divided between defense and domestic needs.

February 6, 2013
Members of United We Dream in the audience rose and held signs as Rep. Darrel E. Issa, California Republican, was being introduced to speak at an immigration hearing on Tuesday. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

GOP pushes secure borders

Momentum may be building for legalizing illegal immigrants, but House Republicans signaled Tuesday they are in no hurry, kicking off congressional hearings on immigration by focusing on how to attract more high-tech workers and how to boost enforcement.

February 5, 2013
Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf speaks about the office's annual Budget and Economic Outlook during a news conference at the Ford House Office Building in Washington on Feb. 5, 2013. (Associated Press)

CBO projects 1st federal deficit under $1T of Obama’s tenure

Congress' official scorekeeper said Tuesday that the federal government's financial picture has improved slightly and the federal deficit this year will drop below $1 trillion for the first time in President Obama's tenure — though a sea of red ink still looms on the horizon.

February 5, 2013
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan in this photo from March 1, 2003. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

ICE ex-chief: Nondeport rules would’ve spared 9/11 hijackers

The former chief of deportations in the Bush administration will testify to Congress on Tuesday that President Obama's new nondeportation policies would have let the Sept. 11 hijackers remain in the country even if they had been picked up in the months before their deadly attacks.

February 4, 2013
The dome of the Capitol is reflected in a skylight of the Capitol Visitor's Center in Washington on Jan. 1, 2013. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Congress gets 3½ months to run up debt

Chastened by its last brush with the debt limit, Congress on Thursday approved a waiver allowing the government to run up as much debt as it needs over the next 3½ months — but senators also prodded themselves to finally write a budget for the first time in four years.

January 31, 2013
From left: Former Sens. John W. Warner of Virginia, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Sam Nunn of Georgia arrive Jan. 31, 2013, on Capitol Hill to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee at Hagel's confirmation hearing to be the next Secretary of Defense. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Defense secretary nominee Hagel roughed up by friendly fire

Former Sen. Chuck Hagel appears to face an even steeper climb to become the next defense secretary after a rocky confirmation hearing Thursday in which his fellow Republicans blasted him for positions on issues and for what they called his willingness to alter positions "for the sake of political expediency."

January 31, 2013
Mexican immigrant Roberto Garcia (center) and son Alan (left) look at wristwatches while shopping in Los Angeles on Jan. 28, 2013. (Associated Press)

Border numbers rise ahead of talks on immigration

Seeking to boost the bipartisan momentum in Congress for tackling immigration reform, President Obama said Tuesday that he now sees "a genuine desire to get this done soon" — but warned that the debate will get more heated in the weeks ahead.

January 29, 2013
**FILE** This aerial photo from Jan. 18, 2013, shows homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy in Fire Island, N.Y. (Associated Press)

Congress OKs $50B in Sandy aid

Congress on Monday cleared $50 billion in additional Superstorm Sandy relief and reconstruction aid for the Northeast, sending it to President Obama for his signature and bringing the total tab for taxpayers from the storm to $60 billion.

January 28, 2013
**FILE** Immigration reform activists hold a sign in front of Freedom Tower in downtown Miami on Jan. 28, 2013. The Florida Immigrant Coalition, together with other immigrant families and community organizations, have initiated the "Di Que Si!" campaign, which translates into English "I said yes!," demanding immigration reform that creates a system that keeps families united. (Associated Press)

Immigration plan mirrors 2007’s

Powered by the results of the November elections, a bipartisan group of top senators on Monday floated the latest proposal to overhaul the nation's shattered immigration system — but acknowledged they are at the earliest stages of what is a fragile balancing act.

January 28, 2013
President Obama announces in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, that he will nominate Mary Joe White (right) to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and will renominate Richard Cordray (left) to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a position he has held for the past year under a recess appointment. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Ruling puts presidential power at risk

The federal appeals court ruling last week finding President Obama abused his recess appointment powers harkened back to a vision of the Constitution that many thought long dead, and could upend decades of practice by Republicans and Democrats.

January 28, 2013
National Guardsmen Spc. Ivan Pimentel (left) and Pfc. Harry Cadet walk past a house on the beach in the Rockaways on New York’s Long Island on Thursday that was ravaged by Superstorm Sandy in October. They were going door-to-door to determine if residents needed portable heaters or other items in the wake of Sandy. (Associated Press)

Sandy relief bill eats up taxes on the rich

Congress is poised to clear the final $50 billion chunk of emergency aid for Superstorm Sandy relief Monday — and in one vote, it will have used up all the new tax money President Obama won by raising rates on the wealthy in the "fiscal cliff" deal.

January 28, 2013
**FILE** Richard Cordray stands left as President Obama announces in the State Dining Room of the White House on Jan. 24, 2013, that he will re-nominate Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a role that he has held for the last year under a recess appointment, and nominate Mary Joe White to lead the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). (Associated Press

Obama recess appointments unconstitutional

In a case freighted with major constitutional implications, a federal appeals court on Friday overturned President Obama's controversial recess appointments from last year, ruling he abused his powers and acted when the Senate was not actually in a recess.

January 25, 2013
"We're sending a message to the Democrat-controlled Senate: It's time to do your job," House Speaker John A. Boehner said Wednesday. (Associated Press)

Republican strategy switch clears the way for debt hike

Acting well before the deadline and with rare bipartisan unity, the House voted Wednesday to waive the federal debt ceiling for the next four months as Republicans retreated from their insistence that any raising of the ceiling be matched dollar-for-dollar with spending cuts.

January 23, 2013
** FILE ** House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, walks to his ceremonial office off the House floor to greet new members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (Associated Press)

GOP reverses course, kicks debt extension down the road

House Republicans backed away from threats of a government shutdown on Wednesday, passing a bill that pushes a debt crisis off until at least the middle of May to give all sides more space to negotiate broader tax and spending deals.

January 23, 2013
** FILE ** House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, walks to his ceremonial office off the House floor to greet new members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (Associated Press)

Tying members’ pay to debt limit legal, GOP says

House Republicans will force a vote Wednesday on a plan to stave off a debt-ceiling crisis for three months, but it's the rest of their plan — to hold lawmakers' pay hostage to their ability to pass a budget — that is testing the limits of the Constitution.

January 22, 2013