Outside the Beltway

In the battle for Senate control in 2020, the conditions appear to favor Republicans. At least for now.

Dan Coats is stepping down as Director of National Intelligence, and President Trump wants to replace him with an inexperienced, obsequious toady.

Despite his claims, President Trump is actually deporting fewer people than were deported under former President Obama.

President Trump says in a new interview that he would be willing to break the law to get “oppo research” on an opponent.

According to one new study, President Trump’s tweets aren’t having the same impact they used to.

Jared Kushner’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan is still awaiting release, but it already appears to be dead on arrival.

The size of the Democratic Presidential field, combined with other things peculiar to the way Democrats pick their nominee, is leading some to wonder if we might see a brokered convention in 2020.

Reports yesterday had former Vice-President Biden entering the Presidential field as early as tomorrow. Those plans appear to be delayed. but an an announcement still appears to be coming.

Donald Trump speaks largely just to his base, ignoring the nation as a whole. Whether this will be enough to win re-election in 2020 is an open question.

After a flood of stories saying the former Vice President is unsuitable for the modern era, the inevitable pushback is happening.

President Trump’s detailed schedules reveal a man who doesn’t seem to spend a lot of time actually working.

Not surprisingly, the President’s proposed shutdown deal is not being received well by Democrats on Capitol Hill.

President Trump put an offer on the table to end the shutdown, the question is whether it will actually lead anywhere.

Is Trump about to make an offer (plus the SOTU letter may have helped).

With Democrats making a new proposal and the President set to speak later today, there could be movement on ending the government shutdown. I wouldn’t be too optimistic, though.

After twenty-five days, there’s no end in sight to the Federal Government shutdown. You can thank the President for that.

There’s yet another rumor that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly could be on the way out.

Though in poor health himself, Bob Dole made his way to the Capitol to pay his respects to his old friend and political rival.

President Trump’s selection to serve as Acting Attorney General does not appear to be Constitutionally authorized to serve in that position.

Overwhelmingly, legal experts agree that President Trump is wrong about birthright citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment.

President Trump is now claiming he will end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants via Executive Order. He clearly lacks the authority to do this.

The vise is tightening on the Catholic Church.

Newt Gingrich has endorsed President Trump’s use of the rhetoric of Josef Stalin to attack the American news media.

BREAKING NEWS from multiple major news outlets.

As the Senate prepares for a key procedural vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh this morning, the Judge’s fate remains up in the air. However, signs are pointing to reasons for Republican optimism.

Republicans intend to “plow through” on the Kavanaugh nomination even after yesterday’s hearing, but it’s not clear that they have the votes to confirm him.

Social media has altered the way writers and readers interact in odd ways.

Notwithstanding his dismissive public rhetoric about the former Vice-President, Donald Trump apparently sees Joe Biden as his biggest potential threat in 2020.

Donald Trump wants a flashier looking Air Force One. What could possibly go wrong?

Three new polls show that Republicans basically agree with the leader of their party when it comes to the issue of Russian interference in American elections.

President Trump reportedly trashed the NATO alliance in conversations at the G-7 Summit, something that should make Russian President Vladimir Putin quite happy.

The Presidents of the United States and Russia will meet next month and there’s reason to worry about what Trump might give away.

The Trump White House has leaked more than any in recent memory. Some of the leakers have explained what motivates them.

The Postal Service is losing billions of dollars, but not for the reasons the President claims.

With the accusations mounting, the nomination of Ronny Jackson to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs is becoming more and more imperiled.

The White House physician is accused of excessive drinking on the job and improperly dispensing medication among other offenses.

Out of the blue, President Trump plans to pardon Dick Cheney’s former Chief of Staff, but the move seems to have more to do with James Comey than it does Scooter Libby.

Some Republicans are suggesting that Paul Ryan should be pushed out as Speaker before the November elections.

Mark Zuckerberg’s second day before Congress was somewhat more contentious than the first, but at the end of the day it’s still unclear that more regulation is the answer to the issues raised by recent Facebook “scandals.”

Paul Ryan won’t be running for re-election this year, opening up both a Congressional seat and a leadership spot.

After eight months in office, the pressures on Chief of Staff John Kelly continue to mount under a President who cannot be controlled and whose behavior will not change.

As a general rule, Presidents are entitled to have a Cabinet and advisers he is comfortable with, but a Cabinet full of “yes men” is not ideal with any President, and certainly not with this one.

The special counsel may be moving beyond the 2016 campaign and into post-election obstruction of justice.

One of the supposed “adults” in the Trump administration has no class.

According to one insider, “There’s no leadership, no trust, no direction and this point there’s very little hope.”

By threatening to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, Donald Trump is making it far less likely that any upcoming talks with North Korea will succeed.

After skipping such events in his first thirteen months in office, the President tried his hand at stand-up last night to mixed reviews.

You’d think after 13 months in the White House they’d start understanding that there are rules.

The President would like to copy Singapore’s zero-tolerance policy. The US Constitution stands in his way.

Two Amtrak crashes in less than a week is newsworthy. It is not, however, a trend.