Outside the Beltway

Monday’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the charges made against Judge Brett Kavanaugh is still on as scheduled, but the details are still being negotiated.

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

The second day of questioning for Judge Brett Kavanaugh was a bit rockier than the first, but nothing happened that seriously threatens his eventual confirmation.

The first day of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings was much ado about pretty much nothing, but then that can be used to describe a process whose outcome is pretty much foreordained.

California Republican Duncan Hunter Jr, who was an early backer of President Trump’s campaign, has been indicted on charges he used massive amounts of campaign funds to pay for personal expenses.

Vermont Democrats nominated a transgender woman for Governor yesterday but she faces long odds in November.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down part of a Hawaii law barring open carry of weapons, but this win for gun rights advocates may turn out to be short-lived.

Based on what can only be described as pure vindictiveness, the President is apparently planning on revoking security clearances of former officials who have been outspoken against the Administration and its policies.

Contrary to what many people have claimed, the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Hawaii did not overturn one of the most controversial decisions in its history.

In a ruling that largely relies on the authority granted by Congress to the President to regulate immigration on national security grounds, the Supreme Court has upheld the final version of the Administration’s travel ban.

With two more weeks to go, there are plenty of “big” cases still awaiting the release of a decision.

With the start of the Singapore Summit just hours away, it’s not at all clear what the respective parties can possibly agree to other than what amounts to a photo opportunity.

Some legal scholars are speculating that the Court’s ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop could impact the ruling on the President’s Muslim Travel Ban. This seems unlikely.

With one month to go in its term, there’s still a lot on the Supreme Court’s plate.

Clashes between the US and Chinese navies in the South China Sea have intensified.

As we approach the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, a new poll finds that two-thirds of Americans support same-sex marriage.

President Trump continues his unhinged, and unsupported by facts, war on Amazon and its owner Jeff Bezos by pressuring an independent agency to raise shipping rates.

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

Eleven states plus DC, who have 172 of the 270 electoral votes needed to elect a President, are now part of the compact.

A new lawsuit seeks to have the 2012 DACA program declared unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in the challenge to President Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban. It didn’t appear to go well for the challengers.

Late last week, Hawaii became the seventh state and eighth major American jurisdiction to legalize assisted suicide.

Joe Arpaio is saying he might reopen his “investigation” into former President Obama’s birthplace if he’s elected Senator.

The near-impossible happened last night, demonstrating why March Madness is the most exciting and most absurd way to pick a champion.

Absent changes in policy, the nation’s most hallowed military cemetery will run out of space in two decades.

POLITICO buries the lede in making the case for “Donald Trump’s bubble presidency.”

John Bolton is leading a cry for preemptive war against North Korea.

Another day, another Court ruling against the Trump Administration.

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

Two weeks later, it’s still unclear what caused a false missile alert to be sent out in Hawaii.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Government’s appeal of the Trump Administration’s revised Muslim Travel Ban

Fortunately, yesterday’s missile alert in Hawaii was a false alarm. However, it is raising questions about the early warning system that’s in place and the state’s preparedness in case of an actual attack.

Late yesterday, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling striking down the latest version of Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban.

A seventh woman has come forward to accuse Senator Al Franken of having groped her as calls mount from his Democratic colleagues for him to resign.

The Supreme Court is allowing the latest version of Donald Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban to go into effect.

Jim Nabors, who became famous as Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle USMC, has died at the age of  87.

North Korea tests another missile, and sends another message to the United States and its allies in Asia and the Pacific.

On North Korea, there are two options, deterrence and war. And only one of those options makes sense.

Federal Courts continue to rule against the Administration, and the President continues to lash out at Judges and demonstrate his contempt for the Rule Of Law.

Donald Trump’s entire modus operandi involves pushing divisive cultural hot buttons.

Two Federal Judges have issued orders blocking the latest version of President Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban.

The District of Columbia has decided not to risk an appeal of a lower court ruling striking down its restrictive concealed-carry law.

At some point, it will be time to move on.

The Trump Administration has suffered another Court defeat related to the President’s Muslim Travel Ban.

The pardoning of Joe Arpaio was distasteful and an affront to the Rule of Law, but it was completely within the powers of the President and should not be a ground for impeachment.

It’s not the time away from the White House that matters, it’s the hypocrisy.

Another escalation on the Korean peninsula.

More provocation from Pyongyang.

In a decision that hands a victory to both sides, the Supreme Court has partly upheld, and partly lifted, the stay on President Trump’s Executive Order that banned travel from six majority-Muslim nations.

The Trump Administration’s Muslim Travel Ban suffers another defeat at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.