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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Rick Santorum turns to his wife, Karen, on Tuesday after announcing in Gettysburg, Pa., that he is suspending his run for president. Front-runner Mitt Romney said in Delaware that he will now start seriously pondering a list of vice-presidential prospects. (Associated Press)

Santorum’s exit shifts GOP race

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania put his presidential campaign on ice Tuesday, removing the final major hurdle for Mitt Romney to win the Republican nomination and turn his full attention to a general-election bid against President Obama.

April 10, 2012
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, surrounded by his family, announces on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, in Gettysburg, Pa., that he is suspending his GOP presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Santorum suspends campaign for GOP presidential nomination

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania suspended his presidential campaign Tuesday, removing the final major hurdle for Mitt Romney to win the Republican nomination and marking the unofficial beginning of the general election battle with President Obama.

April 10, 2012
Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas W. Elmendorf (Associated Press)

Government records 40th straight deficit month in March

The federal government ran a $777 billion deficit for the first six months of fiscal year 2012, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Friday, including a $196 billion hole in March, marking the 40th straight month of deficits.

April 6, 2012
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney takes his turn speaking to the American Society of News Editors on Wednesday, a day after President Obama told his side of the story. (Associated Press)

Romney tells press to uncover Obama’s secrets

Mitt Romney urged the country's news editors on Wednesday to delve more deeply into what he said were President Obama's secret second-term plans, telling them they have a duty to "do the seeking" to expose what the White House has in store.

April 4, 2012
**FILE** Rep. Doc Hastings, Washington Republican (Associated Press)

House subpoenas Obama administration on Gulf oil drilling

A House committee issued subpoenas Tuesday demanding the Obama administration turn over documents Republicans say will show the backroom negotiations that led to President Obama's Gulf of Mexico drilling moratorium in 2010.

April 3, 2012

Congress puts Obama recess power to the test

Congress is taking its first real recess in nearly a year after the House and Senate agreed on Friday to a two-week adjournment for Easter - and a test of whether President Obama will abide by an agreement not to make any recess appointments while lawmakers are gone.

April 1, 2012
**FILE** House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican, speaks Jan. 31, 2012, during a news conference on Capitol Hill. (Associated Press)

Massachusetts militia scores another victory over Virginia

Lawmakers from Massachusetts managed to outflank their Virginia counterparts on the House floor last week, powering through a bill that officially designates Salem as the birthplace of the U.S. National Guard — based on the town's claim to having the country's first militia starting in 1629.

April 1, 2012
**FILE** House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, California Republican (Associated Press)

Congressional recess tests White House deal

Congress is taking its first real recess in nearly a year after the House and Senate agreed on Friday to a two-week adjournment for Easter — and a test of whether President Obama will abide by an agreement not to make any recess appointments while lawmakers are gone.

March 30, 2012
Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican (Associated Press)

House rejects Bowles-Simpson, Obama budgets

The Bowles-Simpson deficit-reduction plan went down to a crushing defeat in the House late Wednesday night in a vote that damages the one bipartisan proposal that just a few months ago had seemed like a possible solution to the country's debt woes.

March 28, 2012
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a Republican presidential candidate, talks to reporters after a rally at the University of Missouri in Columbia earlier this month. Mr. Paul has been in the House chamber for just nine of the 142 votes taken through Wednesday afternoon. He isn't running for re-election to his Texas congressional seat. (Associated Press)

Paul puts campaign before duty

Rep. Ron Paul has missed 93 percent of all floor votes in Congress this year as he's focused on his presidential bid, even as he's kept one of the lighter campaign schedules of any of the candidates.

March 28, 2012
**FILE** Rep. Doc Hastings, Washington Republican (Associated Press)

Republicans vote to subpoena oil moratorium documents

House Republicans voted Wednesday to authorize congressional subpoenas demanding the Obama administration turn over documents it has refused to turn over in two investigations, including one looking at the post-Gulf of Mexico drilling moratorium.

March 28, 2012
Lauren Kurtz (left), a George Washington student who supports President Obama's health care law, and Keli Carender, a Seattle resident against the law, demonstrate outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The justices were hearing arguments on the law's individual mandate. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Obama’s tax plea gets rude reception

While the fate of President Obama's health care law remains an open question, the Supreme Court was far more clear on one issue Tuesday: The law's backers won't be able to justify the individual mandate to purchase health insurance by pointing to Congress' taxing powers.

March 27, 2012
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

Senate GOP sets stage for energy debate

Eager for a debate they believe will highlight rising gas prices on President Obama's watch, Senate Republicans on Monday gave the green light to debating Democrats' plan to end tax subsidies for oil and gas companies.

March 26, 2012
Protesters in support of undocumented youth march March 14, 2012, in Philadelphia from Love Park to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. (Associated Press) **FILE**

DHS: Illegal immigrant population is 11.5 million

About 11.5 million illegal immigrants were in the U.S. last year, a figure that was essentially unchanged from 2010, according to the latest estimate the Homeland Security Department released Friday.

March 23, 2012
Syrian Army soldiers shout slogans and hold up portraits of Syrian President Bashar Assad during a pro-regime rally in Damascus, Syria, on March 23, 2012. (Associated Press)

Obama administration grants protected status to Syrians

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday said she will grant special status to Syrians currently in the U.S., allowing them to stay here past their current visas while their home country remains in turmoil.

March 23, 2012
** FILE ** This Dec. 26, 2011 file photo shows New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton during an NFL game against the Atlanta Falcons. The NFL has suspended Payton for the 2012 season, and former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is banned from the league indefinitely because of the team's bounty program that targeted opposing players. (AP Photo/Rusty Costanza, File)

Senate to hold hearings on NFL ‘bounties’

The Senate will hold hearings looking into "bounties" one NFL team paid its players to injure opponents, a top lawmaker announced Thursday, bringing the football scandal to the halls of Congress.

March 22, 2012