Outside the Beltway

Congress is doing its damned job for a change.

The Democratic Speaker of the House says there will be no charges against the Republican President barring an “overwhelming and bipartisan” consensus.

Last week, the House passed two bills to strengthen the laws regarding background checks for guns, but they’re not likely to even make it to the floor of the Senate.

Nancy Pelosi is tired of Democrats voting to please their constituents.

The House of Representatives voted yesterday to block the President’s declaration of an “emergency” at the southern border. Now the matter goes to the Senate.

Steve King isn’t backing down from his history of white supremacy and racism. And he’s also running for re-election.

The House of Representatives has begin the process of challenging the President’s recent declaration of a ‘national emergency’ at the southern border.

A Coast Guard officer and aspiring domestic terrorist was arrested late yesterday for plotting to kill Democratic politicians and members of the media.

Following Donald Trump’s lead, the GOP is making clear that its game plan for 2020 is paint all Democrats as ‘socialists, baby killers, and anti-Semites.’

For now,former President Obama is staying on the sidelines in the race for the Democratic nomination.

President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border while at the same time undercutting his own case for doing so.

President Trump’s impending decision to declare a national emergency to get funding for his border wall will quickly face serious legal challenges. It may be more vulnerable than the White House suspects.

The President will sign the bill to fund the government and avert another government shutdown, but in doing so he’ll also lay the groundwork for another showdown with Congress.

The right has spent a seemingly inordinate amount of time focusing on relatively powerless Members of Congress.

Congressional negotiators have reportedly reached a budget deal, but it’s not clear if the President will agree to it.

The longest-serving member of Congress in American history has passed away at the age of 92.

Congress appears to be near a deal on border security and government funding, but it’s unclear if the President will be on board.

In his business career Donald Trump relied largely on fear and intimidation to get his way on business deals. As President, he’s finding that nobody is afraid of him.

The President’s second State of the Union began and ended with calls for unity. In between, it was filled with the divisive partisanship that has marked his Presidency.

Despite overwhelming calls for his resignation, Ralph Northam is refusing to step down as Governor of Virginia.

The President is an ignoramus and a blowhard and a petulant child but he’s operating within the Constitutional limits of his office.

Is benefitting politically from romantic liaisons different than other relationships?

As public opinion of the President continues to slide his pandering to his far-right base increases.

After an essentially pointless 35 day shutdown, some members of the House and Senate are proposing bills that would make government shutdowns impossible.

Regardless of whether or not you think Nancy Pelosi won the government shutdown, Donald Trump clearly lost.

The Speaker was dealt a winning hand and played it with the skill of a seasoned pro. But the outcome was all but inevitable.

In a deal that can only be described as a cave by the President, the government shutdown is on course to be ended by the end of the day today.

The Trump Administration either doesn’t realize the impact the shutdown is having on Federal workers who haven’t been paid in a month, or it doesn’t care.

As the shutdown enters its thirty-fourth day and the Senate gets ready to vote on proposals that have no chance of succeeding, Democrats are preparing a new proposal.

President Trump has backed down in his showdown with Speaker Pelosi over the State of the Union Address, but that does nothing to bring us closer to a resolution of the government shutdown.

As the shutdown continues, the President’s political position is becoming weaker. He doesn’t seem to care, though.

Not surprisingly, the President’s proposed shutdown deal is not being received well by Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Could Maryland Governor Larry Hogan be just the kind of Republican to challenge Trump in 2020?

The initial reaction to President Trump’s proposal to reopen the government is not going over well on either side of the aisle.

President Trump put an offer on the table to end the shutdown, the question is whether it will actually lead anywhere.

Is Trump about to make an offer (plus the SOTU letter may have helped).

A leading conservative makes a truly bizarre defense of the President.

With Democrats making a new proposal and the President set to speak later today, there could be movement on ending the government shutdown. I wouldn’t be too optimistic, though.

As the government shutdown continues, Washington is coming to resemble a fight between toddlers. Except the toddlers have the excuse of not knowing any better.

President Trump responded to the suggestion that the State of the Union be rescheduled by revoking military transportation for a Congressional trip to visit troops in Afghanistan.

Nancy Pelosi is “suggesting” to the President that the State of the Union be rescheduled for a time after the government shutdown ends, but it clearly seems like more than just a suggestion.

The Speaker is well within her rights to make Trump’s invitation conditional on ending the shutdown. But let’s not pretend we can’t keep him safe.

After twenty-five days, there’s no end in sight to the Federal Government shutdown. You can thank the President for that.

As the shutdown goes on, the polls are getting worse for the President.

If you’re looking for the biggest obstacle to a resolution to the government shutdown, look no further than President Donald J. Trump.

President Trump appears to be backing away from the idea of declaring a national emergency to get his wall built. But the other options he’s considering aren’t much better.

President Trump stormed out of a meeting with Congressional leaders as the shutdown drags on with no end in sight.

President Trump’s speech on the border wall and the shutdown was fact-free, misleading, and overall a bomb.

As the shutdown drags on, Republicans are beginning to fear that members in the House and Senate may begin to fall away from supporting the President.

As the shutdown continues, there’s little sign of progress on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue.