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Articles by Stephen Dinan

"We just can't change the rules if we don't like the results," said Rep. Candice S. Miller, Michigan Republican. (Associated Press)

House orders solid base line on border

When the Obama administration scrapped the old definition for measuring border security two years ago, it left the government without any way of measuring how much of the U.S.-Mexico border is under operational control.

May 30, 2012
Rep. David Rivera, Florida Republican, has introduced a bill to help good students who were brought to the U.S. as children by illegal immigrants and, through no fault of their own, could be deported. (Associated Press)

Republican offers Dream option for illegals

Wading directly into the thorny immigration debate, a key House Republican on Wednesday introduced the GOP's first version of the Dream Act in this Congress in a bill that would give a select group of high-achieving illegal immigrants the chance to become U.S. citizens.

May 30, 2012
**FILE** Undocumented college student Jorge Herrera, 18, (center) of Carson, Calif., rallies with students and Dream Act supporters in Los Angeles on Dec. 25, 2010. The Dream Act would have given provisional legal status to illegal immigrants brought to the country as children. (Associated Press)

Republicans introduce their own version of Dream Act

Rep. David Rivera on Wednesday introduced the first Republican version of the Dream Act in this Congress which would give a select group of high-achieving illegal immigrant students the chance to stay and study in the U.S.

May 30, 2012
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks May 29, 2012, during a campaign event at the Somers Furniture warehouse in Las Vegas. (Associated Press)

Equal pay bill puts Romney on the line on women

Mitt Romney survived an April skirmish over women's pay, but he and fellow Republicans are about to face a tougher test as the Senate takes up the Paycheck Fairness Act — the next big fight in pay equality between the sexes.

May 29, 2012
President Barack Obama, right, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, center, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, stand during the singing of the National Anthem at the Memorial Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama honors veterans, vows end to Afghan war

President Obama on Monday officially kicked off a years-long commemoration of the Vietnam War, saying the country should use the 50th anniversary of the conflict's start as a chance to apologize for poor treatment of returning veterans, which he called "one of the most painful chapters" in U.S. history.

May 28, 2012
Kentucky lawyer Kent Masterson Brown spent years researching and writing a book about Lt. Alonzo Cushing. (Kent Masterson Brown)

Long battle to get Civil War officer Medal of Honor in final charge

When the House this month voted to waive the time constraints on issuing the Medal of Honor for Lt. Alonzo Cushing, it brought the artillery officer and hero of the Union stand at Pickett's Charge one step closer to the military's highest honor — though in the eyes of his supporters, it's 149 years late.

May 27, 2012
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican (Associated Press)

Senate defeats bills to reduce student loan rates

The Senate on Thursday blocked President Obama's student loan interest-rate reduction plan and also shot down a GOP proposal, leaving the chamber without a solution and little more than a month to go before rates are scheduled to double.

May 24, 2012
**FILE** Lifeguard Breanna Adams watches as children jump from the diving board at the Anacostia Pool and Recreation Center in Washington, D.C., on July 21, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Feds promise swimming pool rules are ‘flexible’

The Justice Department promised Thursday to be "flexible" in enforcing new rules ordering public pools to pay for lifts or ramps for the disabled — backing away from what some pool operators had said was an invitation to a flood of lawsuits against small businesses.

May 24, 2012
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks to reporters on a campaign charter flight between New York and Washington on Wednesday, May 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Romney sees D.C. school vouchers as model for U.S.

Mitt Romney vowed Wednesday to expand Washington's school voucher program as part of a broader nationwide push for school choice, and he accused President Obama of failing to fulfill his own education promises from 2008 because he is too beholden to teachers unions.

May 23, 2012
** FILE ** In this May 8, 2012 photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Lansing, Mich. Romney padded his lead in the race for convention delegates in Republican presidential primaries Tuesday in Arkansas and Kentucky as he inches closer to the nomination he's all but certain to win. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Romney outpaces Obama in Ky., Ark. primaries

President Obama won 58 percent of the vote in Kentucky's Democratic primary on Tuesday but lost 42 percent of the vote to "uncommitted" — another worrisome sign for him as he seeks re-election.

May 22, 2012
**FILE** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, speaks to reporters at the Capitol following a political strategy meeting in Washington on May 22, 2012. (Associated Press)

Congress staring over edge of ‘fiscal cliff’

For Congress, the outlines of the pending fiscal crisis are clear: Don't do a thing, and watch the economy slip into a double-dip recession early next year. Or cancel the looming tax increases and spending cuts, watch the deficit rise, and push the government ever closer to a European-style debt crisis.

May 22, 2012
**FILE** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat (Associated Press)

Sequesters, tax increases would cause double-dip recession

The automatic spending cuts and tax increases slated to take effect at the end of this year would cut the federal deficit dramatically, but would send the country back into a short recession, according to the latest analysis from Congress's official scorekeepers.

May 22, 2012
Jaczko

Embattled nuclear chief sets exit strategy

The embattled chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday he'll resign as soon as a successor can be found, succumbing to pressure from fellow commissioners who accused him of tyrannical behavior, and setting up what's expected to be a bruising battle over a replacement.

May 21, 2012
U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves (Associated Press)

Census surveys aren’t down for the count

After the House voted this month to defund a major part of the U.S. Census Bureau, the agency is taking the threat very seriously, with its supporters in both business and government rallying to preserve the annual questionnaire.

May 20, 2012
Holder

House GOP leaders order Holder to cooperate on gun-running probe

House Republican leaders on Friday sent a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. demanding he comply with the GOP's official investigation into Obama administration gun-running operation Fast & Furious, which allowed hundreds of guns to be sneaked across the border to Mexican cartels.

May 18, 2012

GOP blocks debate on Afghanistan withdrawal

More than 10 years after Congress authorized the war in Afghanistan, American voters and many lawmakers said it's time for troops to come home in an orderly withdrawal — but Republicans denied them a chance to have that debate on the House floor this week.

May 17, 2012
"Today's votes were not a serious effort to pass a budget. Both sides of the aisle are at fault. Americans watching this debate witnessed exactly what they've come to expect from Washington: Republicans blaming Democrats, Democrats blaming Republicans." - Sen. Dean Heller, Nevada Republican

Democrat-led Senate votes down 4 GOP budgets for 2013

The Senate on Wednesday rejected every single budget being offered this year, leaving the chamber — and therefore the federal government — without a plan to address Medicare, Social Security and the other major entitlement programs that are driving deficits and debt.

May 16, 2012
New York resident Melissa Garcia Velez from Colombia speaks during a rally in March in Union Square in New York. The rally was one of many around the country to focus attention on the issue of illegal immigration. A lawsuit filed Monday by illegal-immigrant students and some House Democrats challenges filibusters and would rewrite the way the Senate operates, if successful. (Associated Press)

Dream Act supporters target filibuster

Illegal-immigrant students and some House Democrats sued the Senate this week to try to overturn the upper chamber's filibuster rule, arguing that the 60-vote threshold applied to most major legislation violates the Constitution and is blocking important legislation, such as legalization for illegal immigrants.

May 15, 2012
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's 2012 Fiscal Summit, Tuesday, May 15, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Boehner digs in for next battle on debt

House Speaker John A. Boehner on Tuesday set the stage for an end-of-year debt showdown, saying he will once again insist any increase in the federal borrowing limit be matched dollar-for-dollar with spending cuts elsewhere.

May 15, 2012