Stephen Dinan

Johnson hits Perry on death penalty

Former New Mexico governor and current Republican presidential hopeful Gary E. Johnson said he saw the dangers of the death penalty up close during his two terms in office — and says he is convinced Texas has executed innocent people.

October 27, 2011

House OKs small part of Obama’s jobs plan

The House overwhelmingly passed a slim portion of President Obama's jobs package Thursday, but the striking outbreak of bipartisanship is likely short-lived with no easy follow-up bill on the schedule and both sides still avoiding compromise.

October 27, 2011

Napolitano queried on lack of ‘Fast and Furious’ probe

Congressional Republicans are trying to expand the scope of questions over the disastrous ATF gun-sting operation "Fast and Furious" to Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano, asking her why she never investigated even after suspected guns showed up at the scene of a dead U.S. Border Patrol agent.

October 26, 2011

White House backs House GOP jobs bill

Signaling a brief spark of bipartisanship in Washington, the White House on Tuesday said it backs House Republicans' effort to repeal a 3 percent withholding tax on government contractors, which is part of the GOP's own job-creation push.

October 25, 2011

Senate Dems begin push to repeal federal marriage law

Senate Democrats next week will begin a push to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defines marriage for federal purposes and, to date, has meant states don't have to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

October 25, 2011

Senators flout own immigration law on worker verification

Sen. John Boozman is co-sponsoring a bill that would require every employer in the country to use the E-Verify program to screen for illegal workers — but until earlier this month, the senator himself wasn't signed up for the system, thus violating a 1996 law that makes its use mandatory for all congressional offices.

October 24, 2011

Withholding tax comes back to bite businesses

The last time Congress went on a deficit-cutting spree, lawmakers thought they had settled on a great way to squeeze more money from deadbeat contractors: Withhold 3 percent of all government contracts to make sure those companies paid their full tax bills each year.

October 23, 2011

Senators find sweet spot in ending benefits to millionaires

Finding a rare piece of common ground when it comes to spending limits, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate voted overwhelmingly Friday morning to cut off federal farm payment handouts to farmers who already make more than $1 million a year.

October 21, 2011

Obama’s jobs bill fails second Senate test

After halting President Obama's entire $447 billion jobs-stimulus bill last week, the Senate blocked a $35 billion slice of the package in a late-night filibuster vote Thursday that highlighted the lingering questions among both parties over the White House's plans.

October 20, 2011

$3.2B wrongly taken in tuition tax credits

The federal government wrongly paid as much as $3.2 billion in college-tuition tax credits in the first five months of 2010, including payments to more than 1.7 million people who apparently weren't qualifying undergraduates, according to a new oversight report.

October 20, 2011

Napolitano tells panel 400,000 deported in year

Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano says her department has the resources to deport about 400,000 aliens each year, and the new guidance her department issued will only change the makeup of who gets deported.

October 19, 2011

Man living as an ‘adult baby’ is cleared of Social Security fraud

The California man who lives part of his life as an "adult baby" and collects Social Security disability payments says the federal agency has cleared him of wrongdoing and will continue sending checks.

October 18, 2011

Deficit hit $1.3 trillion in fiscal 2011

The federal deficit reached $1.3 trillion for fiscal 2011, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

October 7, 2011

Reid uses ‘nuclear option’ to block GOP amendments

In a move that threatened to calcify an already dysfunctional Senate, Democrats on Thursday voted to change chamber precedent, in effect rewriting the rules to ban a work-around Republicans had used to force votes even when the Democrats in the majority didn't want to hold them.

October 6, 2011

Obama to senators: Explain opposition to jobs bill

President Obama challenged congressional Republicans to "think long and hard" before opposing his jobs-stimulus bill.

October 6, 2011

In Hill testimony, justices lift high court’s veil

Partially lifting the veil that usually guards their actions, two Supreme Court justices on Wednesday painted the court as a bulwark for the Constitution and said some of today's cynicism about government stems from the public's scanty understanding of the founding document.

October 5, 2011

Napolitano: U.S. will set record for deportations

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that the government is poised to set another record for deportations in just-ended fiscal 2011, citing the numbers as proof that the administration is not pursuing a backdoor amnesty for illegal immigrants that critics charge.

October 5, 2011

Democrat Tomblin hangs on to win West Virginia governor’s election

Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin staved off a challenge by a newcomer Republican candidate.

October 4, 2011

Obama ends long delay on free-trade agreements

President Obama on Monday finally sent Congress long-delayed free-trade agreements with Panama, South Korea and Colombia, breaking a deadlock that extends back to the George W. Bush administration and setting up a showdown on Capitol Hill.

October 3, 2011

Senators see GAO budget cuts as payback

Pushed by budget hawks, the Senate Appropriations Committee has been searching in every nook and cranny for spending cuts, but it may have gone too far in calling for slashing nearly 8 percent from the budget of the government's chief watchdog next year.

October 2, 2011