Outside the Beltway

It’s still early in the election cycle but there’s plenty for the President to worry about.

As the Saudis continue to evaluate the impact of the weekend attack on a major oil facility, the Trump Administration tones down the anti-Iran rhetoric just a bit.

While the world continues to evaluate the impact of Saturday’s attack on a Saudi oil facility, tensions in the Persian Gulf are increasing.

Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for a massive attack on an important Saudi oil facility.

The top ten candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination clashed last night in a debate that made clear the different ideological directions that this race is pulling their party.

Thanks for nothing, Republicans.

Joe Walsh, a former Tea Party stalwart who served in Congress nine years ago, has thrown his hat in the ring against President Trump for the 2020 GOP Presidential Nomination.

Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton is ending a Presidential bid that few people were paying attention to.

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions toward two Democratic Congresswomen,seemingly at the bidding of President Trump, is the latest example of the growing partisan divide over policy toward Israel.

The Federal Budget Deficit rose 27% in July, putting it on course for the $1 trillion by the end of September.

As was the case a month ago, Vice-President Biden and Senator Kamala Harris were the focus of last night’s debate. Things turned out very differently, though.

President Trump’s nominee to be the next Director of National Intelligence is quite simply not qualified for the position he has been nominated to.

President Trump and the Congressional leadership have reached agreement on a multi-year budget deal that that busts through all remaining controls on spending.

Tensions are increasing in the Persian Gulf thanks to a collection of actions by Iran, the United States, and United Kingdom.

What happened to “building a lasting relationship within the African American community”?

The House of Representatives passed a defense spending bill that seeks to limit Presidential authority when it comes to striking Iran and aideing the Saudi war on Yemen.

The Federal Budget Deficit passed the $700 Billion mark with three months still to go in the Fiscal Year.

Joe Biden delivered his first major foreign policy address of the campaign. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than what we have right now.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a challenger. Much like 2014, though, it’s far too early to start writing his political obituary.

President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un met at the Demilitarized Zone for what amounts to their third summit in a year. As with the previous two, there was nothing of substance accomplished.

The Trump Administration unveiled new sanctions against Iran yesterday. They’re unlikely to accomplish the entirely unrealistic goals the President claims to have in mind.

Former Congressman Joe Sestak is the 24th Democrat to enter the race for President.

As if the situation in the Persian Gulf weren’t already tense enough, the Iranians shot down an American reconnaissance drone late yesterday

As we head toward a potential crisis in the Persian Gulf, the consequences of the President’s lies are coming home to roost.

Bret Stephens (and others) are overreacting.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg laid out his foreign policy platform in a speech this week. It’s certainly an improvement over the current President.

This time on Venezuela

Congressman Duncan Hunter Jr’s defense of campaign law violations against him suffered a big setback yesterday when his wife and co-Defendant entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Hours before departing the United States for a pomp and circumstance filled State Visit to the United Kingdom, President Trump sticks his foot in his mouth.

Strong public records laws, not an excess of weirdness, has driven a sad meme.

This year’s graduating class at West Point includes a record number of African-American women.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been indicted on seventeen counts under the Espionage Act arising out of his role in the Chelsea Manning affair.

President Trump is reportedly planning to pardon several American servicemen convicted of war crimes, an action that would be an insult to everyone who has ever worn an American uniform.

A new poll indicates that at least some Democrats continue to hold Biden’s 2002 vote in favor of the Iraq War.

The White House claims to want to talk to Iran but the President’s actions make clear that negotiation is the furthest thing from his mind.

Disturbing news in the Eddie Gallagher case.

Chelsea Manning, who was being held in jail for refusing to comply with a Grand Jury subpoena, was released yesterday but it’s likely to only be a temporary freedom.

Valerie Plame, the former CIA agent whose identity was outed during the Bush Administration, is running for Congress in New Mexico.

While he campaigned on a message of restraint, Donald Trump has largely adopted the interventionist foreign policies of his predecessors.

The Trump Administration is taking an unnecessarily militaristic approach toward Iran, and that poses real dangers for the country and for the Middle East.

Republicans have aborted President Trump’s lofty plan for a $2 trillion infrastructure deal just days after it was conceived.

All three children of the next head of the Army are following in his footsteps.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other firebrands aren’t steering the ship. Yet.

Newly discovered evidence shows that foreign governments have expanded their leasing of space from at least one Trump-owned office building in New York City.

The Trump Administration’s policies toward Iran aren’t going to work, but that’s because they aren’t supposed to work.

Sunday’s attacks in Sri Lanka make it clear that the claim that ISIS has been defeated are nowhere close to being true.

In military justice Bizarroland, Rep Duncan Hunter intentionally commits “reverse UCI.”

ISIS is claiming responsibility for Sunday’s attacks in Sri Lanka, a strong sign that the claims by the Trump Administration that it had largely defeated the group were not true.

Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts is the latest Democrat to enter an already crowded field.

The Wall Street Journal tries, and fails, to defend President Trump’s indefensible veto of the Congressional resolution regarding the war on Yemen.