Outside the Beltway

After making a big deal about voting against the budget bill passed yesterday by Congress during the last debate, Marco Rubio ended up missing the vote altogether.

Representatives from 195 nations reached an agreement supposedly devoted to addressing global climate change, but it’s really more hype than anything else.

Polling shows that most Americans oppose Donald Trump’s plan to bar Muslim’s from immigrating to the United States, but Republicans are far more receptive to the idea.

The quadrennial fantasy of a brokered convention, which American politics has not seen since 1952, is rearing its head again, and it’s no more likely now than it was when we talked about this four years ago.

President Obama is set to sign a military spending bill that effectively guarantees that his 2008 campaign promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will go unfulfilled.

Republican Matt Bevin picked up what comes as a surprise win to many observers, and that sets up a big fight over what had been a PPACA program that the White House has touted.

Paul Ryan’s admission that immigration reform will not happen as long as Barack Obama is President simply reflects the reality of immigration politics in Congress.

As expected, the Senate easily passed the two-year budget deal early this morning.

Rand Paul is promising to filibuster the budget deal when it gets to the Senate, but it’s extremely unlikely he’ll be able to do anything but delay the inevitable.

Congress and the White House have reached a tentative deal on the budget and debt ceiling that promises to make Paul Ryan’s initial months as Speaker a lot easier.

A new poll shows that the Tea Party movement is more unpopular than it has ever been before, even among Republicans and conservatives.

Rand Paul’s flailing Presidential campaign seems to be raising concerns about his Senate seat among some Republicans.

Paul Ryan is getting pressure from all sides to get into the race for Speaker Of The House.

Congress will get a temporary funding bill passed in time to avoid a shutdown on Thursday, but it may just be delaying the inevitable.

Congress has just over a week to pass a funding bill, and it’s not looking very good.

The final effort to block the Iran Nuclear Deal failed in the Senate yesterday, meaning that the deal will now move forward.

With two weeks left until the Federal Government runs out of money, and the issue still quite unresolved, a new poll shows that the vast majority of Americans would oppose a government shutdown over funding for Planned Parenthood.

Senate Democrats successfully blocked a final vote on the Iran Nuclear Deal, meaning that Congressional debate on the matter is effectively over.

Some House Republicans are trying to delay the vote on the Iran Nuclear Deal with an argument that has no merit whatsoever.

At least on paper, Senate Democrats now have enough votes to block the Senate from voting on a resolution disapproving of the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Mitch McConnell spoke a truth that many conservatives are likely not going to want to accept.

Some Republicans are threatening a government shutdown over funding of Planned Parenthood, but a new poll shows that it would be a big political risk for Republicans.

Another poll confirms the fact that Americans of all political stripes continue to hold Congress is disdain.

Thanks to $500,000, Rand Paul bought himself a caucus so he can run for two offices at once.

Another poll shows that most Americans, and even most Republicans, support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

The Senate Majority Leader says there will be no immigration reform while Obama is President. This is unlikely to help the GOP’s already serious problems with Latino voters.

President Obama’s confrontational approach to opponents of the Iran Nuclear Deal ignores legitimate questions.

The gas tax was last raised in 1993.

In the end, the odds that Congress can actually stop the new deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program are pretty low.

Political reality shows us that the shootings in Charleston are not going to have any appreciable impact on the likelihood of any type of gun control law passing anywhere outside of the bluest of the blue states.

As Governor Haley pushes the South Carolina legislature to take the Confederate Flag down, the movement moves beyond the Palmetto State.

The Senate passed a bill that renews, and modifies, the Patriot Act

Lindsey Graham is the latest entrant into the Presidential race, but it’s hard to see how he gets out of the bottom of the polls.

Many provisions of the Patriot Act lapsed at midnight, but apparently the world hasn’t ended.

The Senate returns tomorrow to try to pass an extension of the PATRIOT Act before it expires, but it may not be able to do so.

The Senate went home last night without passing a bill to renew the PATRIOT Act, which expires at the end of the month.

Rand Paul held the Senate floor for nearly twelve hours yesterday to talk about the PATRIOT Act, but it’s unclear if he accomplished anything.

The House has passed a bill that would place real restrictions on the National Security Agency’s data mining program. Now, it moves to the Senate.

A Federal Appeals Court has ruled that the N.S.A.’s data mining program is illegal, but its ruling may not have a very big impact.

Senate Republicans are working on legislation to fix the PPACA’s subsidies if the Supreme Court rules against the Federal Government in June.

Five years after it became law, the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act appears to be over.

Rand Paul is the latest Republican to enter the race, but his path to even becoming a contender is a difficult one at best.

Democrats like New York Senator Chuck Schumer could end up being the ones that scuttle the Iranian nuclear deal.

Another tone deaf action from leading Republicans.

As expected, Republicans have caved in the showdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Now that they control all of Congress, some Republicans are suddenly deciding that the filibuster should be repealed.

Polling indicates that the American public opposes the GOP position on DHS funding, but that’s unlikely to change many minds on Capitol Hill.