Outside the Beltway

The government entered its third shutdown of the year with little sign of an immediate resolution.

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.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed major reforms in Federal sentencing and related laws. As the name of the bill implies, it’s a first step, but a good first step.

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

Republicans scored a win in Court last week, but it seems likely to lead to a political loss in the long-term.

As Washington heads into the final days of a budget shutdown, Republicans find themselves on the losing end of a public relations battle.

The scandal-plagued Secretary of the Interior is leaving office at the end of the year.

Eight years after it was signed into law, a Federal Judge has ruled the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional.

Trump has selected current Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to replace John Kelly as Chief of Staff, but that’s unlikely to change how the West Wing operates.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor contends that a recent change in tax law unravels the basis for the Supreme Court’s upholding of Obamacare.

In a small, but meaningful, step, the Senate has rebuked the Administration’s policies toward the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

House Republicans reportedly don’t have the votes to fund the President’s border wall.

Senator Mitch McConnell and others are blocking a criminal justice reform bill currently pending in the Senate.

The verdict of last month’s elections was clear, but Republicans still don’t seem to get it.

This month’s budget fight is likely the last chance the President will have to get any funding for his border wall.

After initially saying no, Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke is now reopening the door to the idea of running for President.

Mia Love, recently narrowly defeated in her bid for re-election, has some parting words for her party. They probably won’t listen, but they should.

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

President Trump’s job approval numbers continue to be worse than those of any President since the end of World War Two.

Some examples from 2018 of the problems with single seat districts.

The evidence that the GOP lost the midterms because of public repudiation of President Trump is overwhelming. The GOP will either accept this and learn from it, or they will not.

Three Democratic Senators are suing the Acting Attorney General, asserting that his appointment was unconstitutional.

Sherrod Brown pulled off the only statewide Democratic victory in Ohio on November 6th. Because of that, he’s being looked at as a potential 2020 candidate for President.

Once again, Republicans in California find themselves looking up and seeing a lot of desolation. They need to find a way to bounce back.

Another part of the country that was once a Republican stronghold is now almost completely blue.

One of the last Republican strongholds in California is now completely blue.

Senator Jeff Flake is threatening to vote against President Trump’s judicial nominees unless he gets a floor vote on a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro is preparing a run for the White House in 2020.

Democrats have flipped the Senate seat currently held by Republican Jeff Flake.

Democratic pickups in several state legislatures could impact redistricting after the 2020 Census.

The NYT is trying to start a conversation.

New reports indicate that Donald Trump was closely involved in the efforts to buy the silence of a Playboy model and a former adult film star.

Whether as candidates or as voters, Democrats can thank women for many of their victories on Tuesday.

As expected, the midterm elections ended up being a split result that gives Democrats and Republicans alike reason to celebrate.

The 2018 midterms were mostly about Donald Trump. The results were idiosyncratic.

Tip O’Neill was famous for once having advised his fellow Democrats that “all politics is local.” That’s not true anymore, and that’s unfortunate.

Faced with the probability of losses today, President Trump is already getting ready to blame everyone but himself.

For better or worse, here are my projections for the midterm elections.

The GOP is likely to lose control of the House of Representatives tomorrow, but could this actually help Trump?

With less than forty-eight hours to go until voters head to the polls, the odds are pointing to a Democratic House and a Republican Senate.

With one week to go before Election Day, Democrats seem well-positioned to gain control of the House while Republicans seem likely to hold on to the Senate.

Add yet another name to the potential Democratic campaign field in 2020.

Minority rule and self-reinforcing cleavages are not a a healthy combination.

Alaska’s Independent Governor Bill Walker has suspended his campaign and endorsed his Democratic rival in the hope of blocking a Republican victory.

With three weeks to go until Election Day, it’s looking like we’ll end up with a Congress divided between Democrats in the House and Republicans in the Senate.

The first poll taken in the wake of the Kavanaugh nomination fight suggests the voter enthusiasm gap is shifting toward Democrats.

At least for the moment, the fight over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court appears to be helping Republicans rally their base for November. The question is whether it will last after the fight is over.

Thanks to a last-minute agreement, the United States and Canada reached an agreement for a revised version of NAFTA. It’s a got a new name, but it’s basically NAFTA 2.0.

Contrary to what they believed back in December. Republicans are finding that the tax reform bill is not helping them in the midterm elections.

Voter turnout in primary elections in 2018 was significantly above normal levels. especially in Democratic races.