Outside the Beltway

In the end, the race between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy was not even close.

A brewing fight over funding for the President’s border wall could throw a monkey wrench into plans to pass a budget by next Friday.

Anti-Semitic violence has increased markedly over the past two years. So has the spread of far-right “anti-Globalist” conspiracy theories. This is not a coincidence.

Nearly two years into Republican control of Washington, the budget deficit is headed back up.

One month before voters in several states head to the polls to vote on legalization referendums, a new poll shows that public support for legalization remains at record high levels.

The Merrick Garland precedent is power politics, nothing more.

One last Kavanaugh Cold Open.

The F.B.I.’s updated background check is complete and will be reviewed by Senators beginning today. As a result, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is moving forward toward a final vote on the Kavanaugh nomination later this week.

After roughly a week of staying silent, President Trump decided last night to openly mock Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

After placing limits on the scope of the F.B.I.’s reopened background investigation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the White House has relented and is allowing a more open-ended investigation.

Republicans have set a Judiciary Committee vote for less than a day after hearing from Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

The status of a potential hearing in the Brett Kavanaugh nomination regarding the charges made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford remain unclear, but the likelihood is that she will testify in the end.

Trumpism is a direct by-product of the poisonous populism of the Tea Party movement, and they’ve both taken over the Republican Party.

After a day of political pressure, Senate Republicans have agreed to hold a hearing regarding the sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh next week.

A woman accusing Brett Kavanaugh of having assaulted her when he was 17 and she was 15 has come forward. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

Some last minute dramatics in the Kavanaugh nomination fight, but it seems unlikely to impact the outcome of the nomination fight.

Mitch McConnell has a plan that could pose problems for Democrats fighting for re-election.

Delaware Democratic Senator Tom Carper beat back a challenge from a ‘progressive” challenger in Thursday’s primary.

Washington said farewell to John McCain today in a service that both remembered his spirit and his heroism, and stands as a sharp rebuke to what politics has been reduced to in America today.

President Trump’s much-hyped replacement for NAFTA doesn’t really amount to much and won’t amount to anything unless he can get Canada, and the U.S. Congress, on board.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh reportedly told Senator Susan Collins that he considers Roe v. Wade
“settled law.” This will likely be enough to get her support and that of another holdout Republican Senator.

Another step forward in the seemingly unstoppable movement toward nationwide legalization.

President Trump is suggesting he may force a government shutdown over his immigration policies just a month before the midterm elections.

Senate Democrats appear to be recognizing that there’s basically nothing they can do to stop the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

The Garden State has put a hold on marijuana prosecutions in anticipation of full legalization by the end of the year.

Some Democrats want to compel President Trump’s translator to testify about his private meeting with Vladimir Putin. That’s a bad idea.

The Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued indictments against twelve Russian intelligence officials for election-related hacking, and in the process has shown most of the arguments made by the President and his surrogates regarding the Russia investigation are nonsense.

At least in these early days, Democrats appear to lack a coherent message, or a coherent strategy, to propel any effort to block Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

A selection that is likely to keep the Senate GOP united and red-state Democrats up for re-election under pressure to vote to confirm.

Democrats are making largely meaningless appeals to the so-called ‘Merrick Garland Precedent” to argue for a delay in confirming the President’s next Supreme Court nominee. The American people feel differently.

In November, Michigan voters will be able to make their state the tenth state to legalize marijuana. This is just the latest step in what seems to be an irreversible trend.

President Trump’s short list of potential Supreme Court nominees consists mostly of conventionally conservative, well-qualified, jurists.

The odds of an immigration bill passing the House were already low. This morning, President Trump pretty much guaranteed failure.

The former New York City Mayor is prepared to spend $80 million to help Democrats take back Congress this year.

House Republicans are supposed to vote on one or more immigration bills this week, but can’t even agree what their policy should be.

Children are not political bargaining chips, but that’s exactly what this President plans to turn them into.

Democrats have decided to move up the date of their 2020 Convention.

House Republicans put forward a plan to protect DACA beneficiaries, but President Trump appears to have doomed it already.

The President tears up every piece of paper he touches. A whole department is taping them back together for the National Archives.

For some reason, the President wants to help a Chinese company that has been accused of being a security risk by American intelligence services.

A small group of Republican rebels in the House are attempting to push legislation protecting DACA beneficiaries to a floor vote. Unfortunately, they’re not likely to succeed.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization according to a new poll.

Instead of attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner last night, Donald Trump took his show on the road where he continued his long-standing attacks on the press. Unfortunately, it’s a message that resonates with his supporters.

Republicans are planning on pushing judicial nominees through the Senate in case they lose control in November. Meanwhile, the possibility of a Supreme Court vacancy raises the stakes.

The Democratic National Committee has filed a lawsuit alleging a wide-ranging conspiracy to influence the 2016 election. As a legal document, it appears to be little more than a political stunt.

The highest ranking Democrat in the Senate has introduced a bill that would effectively decriminalize marijuana nationwide and leave it up to each state to decide how far they wish to go with regard to cannabis regulation. It’s a huge step in the right direction.

In a bizarre Twitter rant, President Trump declared a DACA deal “dead,” blaming Democrats when it’s clear that it’s largely his fault.

The nominations of Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel could be in trouble in the Senate.

Not surprisingly, the Trump Administration is backing away from gun regulations opposed by the N.R.A.

Once again, the Administration is walking back the President’s statements on a controversial issue.