Stephen Dinan

Obama, GOP will try to reach accord on taxes and arms

Nearly two years after a newly installed President Obama ended an argument with congressional Republicans with the simple line "I won," he goes back into a room with them on Tuesday having now lost, and badly.

November 29, 2010

Obama demands 2-year pay freeze for federal workers

Calling it a starting point for a looming showdown on budget cuts, President Obama on Monday demanded a two-year pay freeze for federal civilian workers, aligning himself with congressional Republicans and against his labor union allies who warned that the freeze would "stick it" to the government work force.

November 29, 2010

Obama to freeze federal pay for 2 years

President Obama called for a two-year federal civilian worker pay freeze Monday, fighting back against a sentiment that government workers have done better than private-sector workers during the economic slump.

November 29, 2010

House GOP vows unfettered vote on raising of debt ceiling

For the first time in years, House lawmakers will soon have the chance to vote on a standalone measure to increase the federal debt limit next year under the new Republican majority — a vote that's shaping up as the first early test of the GOP's commitment to spending restraint.

November 7, 2010

New split on Hill resets old divides

So much for cooperation. Two days after voters split control of Congress, Republicans and Democrats already were fighting over the direction they'll take when they come back to Washington.

November 4, 2010

McConnell: Obama must ‘move in our direction’

The Senate Republican leader said Thursday his party can't "reverse the damage Democrats have done" as long as President Obama still holds the veto, but said if the president wants to get anything done over the next two years he will have "to move in our direction."

November 4, 2010

376 years of Democratic experience tossed

Neither rookies nor seasoned veterans were spared in Tuesday's House Democratic bloodbath, which saw Republicans defeat three major committee chairmen and at least seven lawmakers who had 20 years' seniority or more in Congress.

November 3, 2010

Democrats lose centuries of seniority in House

Neither rookies nor seasoned veterans were spared in Tuesday's House Democratic bloodbath, which saw Republicans defeat three major committee chairmen and at least seven lawmakers who claimed 20 years' seniority or more in Congress.

November 3, 2010

‘Humbled’ Boehner pledges drive to curb spending

The man likely to lead House Republicans when they take control of Congress next year said Wednesday that his party is "humbled" by winning the 60-plus seats that have delivered the chamber to the GOP, and said the House's first order of business under Republican control will be to reduce spending.

November 3, 2010

‘Tea party’ helps Rubio break Beltway

If the "tea party" is the story of 2010, then Marco Rubio's rise from anti-establishment challenger to senator-elect is the story of the insurgent movement itself.

November 2, 2010

Independents desert Democrats

Independent voters who powered President Obama to victory in 2008 have deserted his party this year, all but guaranteeing that Republicans will win control of the House in Tuesday's elections, though analysts said self-inflicted wounds likely will keep the GOP from winning the Senate.

November 1, 2010

Diverse district pits 2 minorities

In any other race, it could have been doomsday. But when Rep. Loretta Sanchez told Univision in September that Vietnamese voters in her California congressional district were trying to steal her seat from Hispanics, it had only a moderate effect among the district's large Vietnamese population.

November 1, 2010

Rhetoric heats up in homestretch

President Obama desperately sought to reignite the coalition that pushed him to power in 2008, while Sarah Palin blamed "corrupt bastards" for trying to hinder Senate candidate Joe Miller of Alaska, and in North Carolina, a federal judge ordered steps to prevent voting-machine problems.

October 31, 2010

Study digs up $1B in federal benefits to dead

The federal government has paid out more than $1 billion in checks to dead people over a decade, according to a new report by the top Republican on the Senate's investigative panel.

October 31, 2010

Reid promises vote on aliens

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid over the weekend promised to force the Senate to vote on an immigration bill, the Dream Act, in a lame-duck session of Congress this month.

October 31, 2010

Reid vows immigration vote in lame-duck Congress

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this weekend promised to force the Senate to vote on an immigration bill, the Dream Act, in a lame-duck session of Congress next month.

October 31, 2010

$1 billion paid to dead people, senator reports

The federal government has paid out more than $1 billion in checks to dead people over a decade, according to a new report by the top Republican on the Senate's investigative panel.

October 29, 2010

Poll: Anti-Latino bias not up, fear of it is

Hispanic-Americans increasingly see illegal immigration as a problem for their own community, according to a new report that found a significant number of Latinos who say it's causing them to suffer discrimination.

October 28, 2010

Christie kicks off austerity fights in U.S.

In the first of what could be a nationwide spate of austerity-prompted spending cuts, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday canceled an over-budget $9-billion-plus commuter train tunnel between his state and Manhattan — shrugging off the Obama administration's efforts to save it.

October 27, 2010

Irish bookie pays off bets on Republicans

Saying there's no way Democrats can keep control of the House, Ireland's largest bookie on Wednesday said it has already paid off all bettors who wagered the GOP would capture the chamber.

October 27, 2010