Outside the Beltway

Congressional negotiators have reportedly reached a budget deal, but it’s not clear if the President will agree to it.

Negotiations to avert another shutdown appear to have stalled over the weekend with just four days left to go before funding runs out.

In a deal that can only be described as a cave by the President, the government shutdown is on course to be ended by the end of the day today.

As the shutdown enters day thirty-five, there are some signs of movement in Washington but no real progress.

The Senate rejected Republican and Democratic proposals as expected but there are some signs of movement forward.

As the shutdown enters its thirty-fourth day and the Senate gets ready to vote on proposals that have no chance of succeeding, Democrats are preparing a new proposal.

The Senate has the ball this week in terms of action on the government shutdown, but its work is going to end up being utterly pointless.

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.

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.

Nancy Pelosi is “suggesting” to the President that the State of the Union be rescheduled for a time after the government shutdown ends, but it clearly seems like more than just a suggestion.

The Speaker is well within her rights to make Trump’s invitation conditional on ending the shutdown. But let’s not pretend we can’t keep him safe.

President Trump is claiming that he could use authority to declare a “national emergency” to build his wall even if Congress doesn’t authorize it.

As the shutdown continues, there’s little sign of progress on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Terrorists aren’t walking across the desert to get here. Flying is so much easier.

In a late first-day session, Congress passed a series of bills designed to reopen most of the government, but they’re already ‘dead on arrival’ in the Senate.

Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of The House again after eight years out of power, but there’s little time for her to celebrate.

With Democrats set to take control of Congress today, a resolution to the shutdown doesn’t appear to be any closer.

The longer the shutdown goes on, the wider its impact is likely to become.

Democrats have unveiled what appears as if it will be their first effort to end the shutdown, but there are already signs Republicans will reject it.

The Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the Trump Administration to have an injunction against its new asylum policy lifted.

While the political media is spending a lot of time talking about it, the actual impact of this latest government shutdown is likely to be limited and possibly even unnoticeable to most Americans.

The Senate passed a bill that keeps the government funded through the beginning of February, but fails to provide any funding for the President’s border wall.

With three days to go before a government shutdown, there are at least some signs that the President may be backing away from his threats to shut down the government over funding for his border wall.

With the Friday night deadline fast approaching, nobody in Washington seems to know what’s going on.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has announced that the deployment of U.S. troops to the Mexican border will be extended through the end of this year.

Losing the midterms is not going over well with the President.

The next head to roll in the Trump Administration appears to be frequent Trump target DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Late last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals became the fifth Federal Court to rule against the Trump Administration’s efforts to repeal DACA.

Partisan officials should not be in charge of state election processes, much less their own.

America’s tradition of unlimited free expression increases the danger of violence.

The Russians are interfering in our electoral system again, and they’re using our own hyperpartisanship to accomplish their goals.

The Trump Administration’s war on so-called “Sanctuary Cities” suffers yet another defeat in Court.

Yesterday’s test of the Presidential Alert system went about as planned.

Be prepared to get a test message from the Federal Government at 2:18 pm Eastern Time on Thursday. This is only a test.

In the past, President Trump has threatened to shut down the government if the doesn’t get what he wants in the budget. The latest budget deal effectively dares him to do it.

Donald Trump’s vanity-seeking military parade has been postponed amid reports that the estimated cost has increased dramatically.

A new government report indicates that President Trump’s border wall will cost billions more than initially projected. And Mexico still isn’t going to pay for it.

Another Federal Judge has dealt a legal blow to President Trump’s effort to shut down the DACA program.

After one year at a job that has to be among the most frustrating in Washington, John Kelly has agreed to stay on through the 2020 election.

A Federal Judge has rejected a Trump Administration effort to change a 20-year-old legal settlement that bars long-term detention of immigrant families.

Democrats are rallying around the “Abolish ICE” slogan in response to the Trump Administration’s immigration policies, but it could end up backfiring on them.

The calls to “Abolish ICE” are spreading to potential candidates for the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination.

Some activists on the left are calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be abolished. While that may be a great sound bite, it doesn’t really accomplish anything.

The Administration is going to unveil a plan for a major reorganization of government agencies today.

President Trump has reversed the family separation policy and replaced it with a family detention policy. This is likely to lead to Court challenges.

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

The Trump administration’s approach to immigrant children is a serious test of our national morality.

President Trump and his supporters are blaming the policy of separating parents and children at the border on Democrats. This is, simply put, a lie.

A Trump Administration policy announced in April has resulted in roughly 2,000 children being taken from their parents at the border.