Outside the Beltway

A theme that just won’t go away.

With three days to go, there are signs the GOP is ready to give up on its showdown over DHS funding.

The House voted to repeal the PPACA for the 56th time, but it’s clear that this vote will end up being a pointless as all the others.

For some reason, Republicans want to change filibuster rules even though it’s unclear that they’ll still hold the Senate after 2016.

The House was set to vote on a ban on abortion after 20 weeks that never would have become law today but they pulled the bill. Conservatives are annoyed, but it was smart politics in the long run.

Even with a House and Senate majority, the GOP is unlikely to get what it wants in its current immigration battle with the President.

Some are criticizing the President for not going to Paris for yesterday’s rally.

Just one day into the new Congress, the first confrontation is already set.

Several Tea Party backed Members of Congress claim to be challenging John Boehner in tomorrow’s vote for Speaker. They are, of course, delusional.

The fate of Cuba policy in Congress is far from certain, but what is certain is that following through on President Obama’s historic and necessary changes will face resistance.

As expected, the Senate passed the so-called “Cromnibus,” but not before a self-aggrandizing maneuver by Ted Cruz ended up being exploited by Democrats to pass outstanding nominations.

Even leaving aside the fact that it is far too early to be making such assessments, the idea that Rand Paul is the front runner for the Republican nomination in 2016 fails the logic test.

The GOP Senate Caucus seems to be split on whether or not to reinstate the filibuster for Presidential and Judicial appointments.

Michele Bachmann leaves office at the end of the current Congress, but we may not have heard the last from her.

Republicans don’t really have many options if the President pulls the trigger on immigration reform via executive action.

Post-election polling shows that the majority of Americans want the new GOP majority in Congress to work together with the President. Republican voters have a very different view.

The GOP’s big wins last week seem to be just guaranteeing that this year’s battle between the Tea Party and the “establishment” will continue.

The GOP is dominant in the Southern United States, but it’s unlikely to last as long as Democratic dominance of the region did.

Despite the conciliatory language after Tuesday, it’s unlikely that much will change in Washington in the next two years.

What happened Tuesday? And what does it tell us about 2016?

The results of the 2014 midterms should teach us some lessons about how to handle and evaluate polling.

The GOP added to its majority in the House, giving it the biggest majority it has had since Truman was President.

2014 was not supposed to be a wave election, but it clearly qualifies as one.

Not unexpectedly, the Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging the Constitutionality of the Senate filibuster.

That word may not mean what you think it means.

The odds say that the GOP will end up with a Senate majority in the 114th Congress when all the votes are counted, but if it doesn’t happen then there’s likely to be quite a battle inside the GOP.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul continues to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy, and that’s a good thing.

Things are looking good for the GOP to take over the Senate, but there are still several right races that could tip the balance one way or the other.

To a large degree, the Democratic Party’s supposed advantage among women voters appears to not exist this year.

Sometimes, being evasive in answering a question just makes a politician look silly. This is one of those times.

Could Alison Lundergran Grimes be surging? Maybe, but we’ll need more evidence to be sure.

Could the GOP offer a positive governing agenda if they controlled Congress?

Opponents of marriage equality clearly don’t like the idea of a “big tent” in the GOP on the issue.

Republicans still have an advantage, but Democrats seem to be holding their own in the battle for Senate control.

A political earthquake in the Sunflower State that could have a big impact on the battle for control of the Senate.

Mitch McConnell’s campaign was forced to do a shakeup thanks to a scandal that could envelop Ron Paul’s 2012 Presidential campaign.

The General Accounting Office confirmed what seems clear to anyone who can read a statute.

If Republicans win the Senate, what we’ve seen for the past three years could end up seeming tame by comparison.

In what would be a classic bit of political irony, polling indicates that the House lawsuit against the President could make Democrats more likely to vote in November.