Outside the Beltway

In which I agree with Trump about the problem, but NOT the solution

Sanctions are already taking a toll. But the West could do more if it had the will.

The longtime Senate leader is gone at 82.

Discussing the filibuster.

It doesn’t work like the movies, Senator.

Could the Vice President end the filibuster herself?

After two weeks of hearings, public opinion has not moved very much on the impeachment of the President.

Senate Republicans are pushing for the end of minority obstruction—and the Democrats can’t wait.

The unconscionable violation of norms in 2016 won’t apply in 2018; it’s a matter of power, not principle.

After thirty years on the bench, during which he played a central role in some of the Supreme Court’s most significant rulings, Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring.

In a bizarre Twitter rant, President Trump declared a DACA deal “dead,” blaming Democrats when it’s clear that it’s largely his fault.

By threatening to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, Donald Trump is making it far less likely that any upcoming talks with North Korea will succeed.

President Trump called on Senate Republicans to eliminate the legislative filibuster to resolve the government shutdown. That’s not going to happen.

Justice Kennedy is telling prospective law clerks for the term that beings in October 2018 that he is considering retiring at the end of the term that begins this October.

With a government shutdown looming at the end of the week, the Administration has appeared to back away from a demand that a government funding bill include money allocated for the President’s promised border wall.

The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is hinting at a new Supreme Court vacancy this summer.

Stop romanticizing the filibuster (and don’t appeal to the intent of the Founders).

After a prolonged vacancy and a bitterly partisan confirmation process, Neil Gorsuch has been confirmed to succeed Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court of the United States.

As expected, Senate Republicans invoked the so-called ‘nuclear option’ to move the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch forward to a final vote on Friday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch even as it became inevitable that Republicans would be forced to invoke the ‘nuclear option’ to confirm him to the Supreme Court.

Next week’s big news is likely to be the Senate’s vote to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, which could mean invocation of the so-called ‘nuclear option’ by Senate Republicans.

Let the games begin.

More fireworks on the second day of the questioning of Neil Gorsuch, but his confirmation nonetheless seems assured.

Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings begin Monday morning, but it’s Senate Democrats who are in the hot seat.

Senate Democrats are divided on how to approach the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, making it likely that he’ll be confirmed.

After a highly contentious nomination process, Jeff Sessions was confirmed last night as the new Attorney General of the United States.

In the end, an effort by Democrats to block Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court does not seem like a good use of their rather limited options.

President Trump hinted today that he’s likely to name his Supreme Court choice next week, and the list to appears have narrowed to three men.

The new leader of the Senate’s Democrats says he regrets supporting the filibuster reforms his party passed in 2013.

Senior Republican Senators are throwing cold water on the idea of eliminating the filibuster.

John McCain said that Senate Republicans will unite to block any Supreme Court appointment by a President Hillary Clinton.

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

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

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

President Obama has gotten more federal judges confirmed at every level than his predecessor had at this point.

Democracy was nice while it lasted.

We have a certified “winner” in the Virginia Attorney General’s race, but where it heads from here is still up in the air.

Yesterday’s change to the filibuster rule is likely to have little impact outside the beltway and the political chattering class.

It wasn’t a Thermonuclear move, more like something the size of Hiroshima, but today the Senate took an historic move nonetheless.

After the GOP blocked a series of Obama judicial nominees, Democrats are again threatening to go nuclear on filibuster reform.

The deal emerging out of the talks between Senator Reid and Senator McConnell is about what you’d expect, but it’s probably the best we can expect right now.

There are over 1,000 Executive Branch positions requiring Senate approval. That seems excessive.

Once again, the threat of the “nuclear option” appears to have had less megatonnage than some expected and others hoped.

The Senate may be headed for an historic confrontation today if an 11th hour deal isn’t reached.

Glenn Reynolds has an interesting piece out today in the Columbia Law Review.

President Obama threw down a gauntlet today in the form of a trio of Judicial nominations.

The Judicial Confirmation process needs to be fixed.

The D.C. Circuit now has four vacancies out of eleven seats.

Once again, Harry Reid is pursuing a far less ambitious filibuster reform package than originally threatened.