Stephen Dinan

Romney, Santorum all tied up in latest poll

After a good February for each of them, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum head into Super Tuesday essentially tied in The Washington Times/JZ Analytics' poll of Republican primary voters nationwide, which also found little appetite for the GOP to wait until a convention to settle matters.

March 4, 2012

Sheriff Arpaio: Obama birth certificate a ‘forgery’

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Thursday he suspects the birth certificate President Obama released last year is a "computer-generated forgery" — and also raised questions about the authenticity of the president's Selective Service card.

March 1, 2012

Romney tops Wyoming caucuses

Mitt Romney won Wyoming's Republican presidential precinct caucuses Wednesday, a non-binding straw poll that gives him a third victory in two days.

February 29, 2012

GOP hopefuls look ahead to Super Tuesday

All of the Republican primaries and caucuses so far amount to mere appetizers ahead of next week's main course, when GOP faithful go to the polls for Super Tuesday — the 10-state showdown that will signal how much longer long the nomination battle goes on.

February 28, 2012

Romney sweeps Arizona, Michigan primaries

Overcoming his own stumbles and what he called one opponent's "dirty trick" campaign, Mitt Romney swept both the Arizona and Michigan primaries on Tuesday, once again taking control of the Republican presidential race and earning valuable momentum as the field prepares for Super Tuesday next week.

February 28, 2012

Homeland Security: Airport scanners are safe

The Homeland Security Department has completed a review of the Transportation Security Administration's new airport scanners and says they are safe enough, according to a report the agency's inspector general issued Tuesday.

February 28, 2012

Audit: Government still wasting ‘tens of billions’ each year

A year after the government's chief investigators identified 81 areas where the government double-spends or could cut costs, President Obama and Congress have solved just four of them, the Government Accountability Office said in a follow-up report Tuesday.

February 28, 2012

Arizona set to test Romney’s appeal to Hispanics

With this weekend's endorsement by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Mitt Romney has amassed the backing of what could be considered the trifecta of hard-liners on illegal immigration — and he will put that to the test with Hispanic voters Tuesday in Arizona's GOP primary.

February 27, 2012

Earmark ban facing a fight over definition

The Senate this week could face a showdown over exactly what is an earmark, after one senator vowed to challenge money set aside in the pending transportation bill by the chamber's top lawmaker, Sen. Harry Reid.

February 26, 2012

Arizona’s Gov. Brewer endorses Romney

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination on Sunday, saying he is the most electable candidate in the field.

February 26, 2012

Ariz. Gov. Brewer likely to skip Senate hearing on immigration

Democrats on Thursday invited Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to testify to the Senate in April on her state's tough immigration law, but her spokesman said she's not likely to attend "a publicity stunt."

February 24, 2012

Romney questions ‘which team’ Santorum played for in Senate

Pursuing his attack on rival Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney Thursday blasted the former senator's defense that he often had to vote against his principles while serving in Congress in order to "take one for the team."

February 23, 2012

Rivals target Santorum in debate

Under fire after a strong February, former Sen. Rick Santorum found himself on the defensive as his opponents said his tough conservative talk on the campaign trail was belied by his record during his time in Congress, particularly on spending.

February 22, 2012

Some GOP candidates fail to perform immigration checks

Rick Santorum has called for every business in the country to use E-Verify, the government's database for screening out illegal immigrant workers, but his own presidential campaign has not signed up to use the program.

February 21, 2012

Feds: Fresh milk 150 times more dangerous than pasteurized dairy

The federal government said Tuesday that fresh milk is 150 times more dangerous than pasteurized milk — a finding that bolsters the government's argument as it goes after farmers who sell unpasteurized milk across state lines.

February 21, 2012

Romney extends lead in GOP fundraising

Mitt Romney's campaign raised $6.4 million in January, Newt Gingrich raised $5.6 million, and Rick Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul each raised $4.5 million, showing all four men competitive in the fundraising segment of the Republican presidential fight.

February 20, 2012

Romney shows trouble keeping supporters from 2008

Mitt Romney's second go-round at a presidential run is not going so well. Nine states have voted so far, and in six of them the former Massachusetts governor has received fewer votes than he did four years ago.

February 19, 2012

Justice says Supreme Court should revisit campaign finance

The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a Montana law that had banned corporations from running political ads, but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the case makes it likely the Supreme Court will have to revisit the Citizens United ruling that has unleashed a flood of ads this year.

February 17, 2012

Congress passes payroll tax cut

Acting with striking bipartisanship, Congress on Friday passed a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut and renewed enhanced unemployment benefits, sending the bill on to the White House and delivering a major victory to President Obama.

February 17, 2012

Deficit is loser in payroll tax deal

After a year of budget-hawking, Congress last week undid much of that progress in one swoop, adding more than $100 billion to the federal deficit in 2012 by extending the payroll tax cut but not paying for it.

February 17, 2012