Outside the Beltway

Economic growth slowed significantly in the fourth quarter of 2018 from where it had been earlier in the year. And it’s likely to slow down even more.

Lindsey Graham is telling his fellow Republicans that they better back the President if he decides to declare a national emergency to get funding for his border wall.

After an essentially pointless 35 day shutdown, some members of the House and Senate are proposing bills that would make government shutdowns impossible.

There’s a way that Congress and the President could make future government shutdowns impossible, but they probably won’t do it.

Despite their rhetoric, Republicans in Congress have shown through their own inaction that they don’t really support the President’s border wall.

If you’re looking for the biggest obstacle to a resolution to the government shutdown, look no further than President Donald J. Trump.

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.

William Barr, who served as Attorney General under President George H.W. Bush, has been selected to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.

With their House majority secure, Democrats must now select their leadership team for the next two years. It’s not going smoothly.

The economy appears to have grown strongly in the third quarter, but concerns about long-term growth remain.

A decade after the Great Recession, we now have data to answer the question.

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

Donald Trump has been in office just over 600 days, and he’s proven beyond any doubt that he doesn’t care if what he says is the truth or not.

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.

Gary Johnson was a successful two-term Governor in New Mexico. Now he’s making a bid to represent the Land of Enchantment in the U.S. Senate.

A powerful political network is distancing itself from the Trump-dominated Republican Party.

The economy grew at an exceptionally strong pace according to the first estimate of GDP growth, but several caveats remain.

When a President lies with the ease and regularity of Donald Trump, it’s the responsibility of all of us to call it what it is and not hide behind weasel words like “misleading.”

The first estimate of economic growth in the first three months of 2018 beat expectations slightly, but it doesn’t bode well for the immediate future.

Running for and being President of the United States has been very lucrative for the family business.

Tim Pawlenty is attempting a comeback in Minnesota. It won’t be easy.

Yet more troubling news about the proposed citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

President Trump wants to send the military to the Mexican border. This is both unnecessary and a bad idea.

Like many Presidents before him, Donald Trump wants a line-item veto. Getting there won’t be easy, nor should it be.

Dave Schuler argues the US would have a much better healthcare system if we had modeled it on VA clinics rather than private insurance.

The Tea Party is dead, but it was never really alive to begin with.

While most of America slept, the government was shutdown thanks to some faux theatrics by a single Senator.

The current budget deal expires in six days and Congress doesn’t seem to know what it’s going to do about it.

In addition to deadlines on the Federal Budget and DACA, Congress also has to deal with the debt ceiling at some point in the next month.

The economy grew in the final quarter of 2017, but at a slower pace than earlier in the year and far slower than what the President has promised.

It’s been seven years since Congress eliminated earmarking, and what we’ve seen has provided good evidence for the argument that it should never have been eliminated.

With just hours to go, it seems increasingly unlikely that the Senate can reach a deal to keep the government open.

The current temporary spending measure reached by Congress in September expires on Friday, and Republicans haven’t come up with a solution yet.

For some reason, Senate Republicans want to attach a bad health care reform idea onto an already controversial tax reform bill.

The new GDP growth estimate shows healthy economic growth in the second quarter, but it’s unclear if it can be sustained.

Donald Trump is threatening to shut the government down if Congress doesn’t pay for the wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for.

According to initial estimates, the economy grew at faster pace in the second quarter than at the beginning of the year, but it was hardly anything to write home about.

Economic growth in the first quarter wasn’t as bad as first estimated, but it still wasn’t very good. And the future is unclear at best.

As he nears the end of his first 100 days in office, President Trump continues to suffer from bad poll numbers.

Faced with the fact that it has little to show for its first 100 days in office, the Trump Administration is pressuring Congress to come up with a new health care reform bill before the end of next week.

President Trump’s job approval woes are starting to impact the GOP as a whole.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke suggests building Trump’s Wall on Mexican territory.

The president’s skinny budget would eliminate most funding for science and the arts to fund more Defense spending.

Reports indicate that President Trump will seek to increase military spending. We don’t need to, and we can’t really afford it.

Budget hawks in the GOP face a showdown with Donald Trump’s spending ambitions this year that will likely decide whether we’ll ever get spending under control.

The economy grew strongly in the third quarter of the year, but it doesn’t seem likely to last.

Another round of victories puts Donald Trump another step closer to the Republican nomination.

An anemic end to 2015 raises concerns about the health of the economy going forward.