Outside the Beltway

The President is systematically defying Congress. Whatever can be done about that?

The New York Times has obtained about ten years worth of Donald Trump’s tax returns from the late eighties to early nineties. They don’t tell us much that we didn’t already know.

The Treasury Secretary is declining to comply with a Congressional request for the President’s tax returns. Whether this is proper is a question that will have to be resolved by the courts.

If the economy remains strong, then Democrats could find it harder to beat the President than they thought.

A seemingly out-of-the-blue political movement is arguing in favor of independent election of Vice-Presidents.

Despite poll numbers suggesting otherwise, one political analyst suggests that the United States may not be “ready” for a gay President.

A new poll finds that a small majority of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College, but that’s not nearly enough to make any change in how we elect Presidents possible.

As I have noted before: party trumps institutional pride. The Barr testimony is just another example.

Jobs Growth in April was much higher than expected, seemingly putting to rest for now fears that the economy might be slowing.

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.

New poll numbers suggest that Congressional Democrats need to be careful about how aggressively they pursue their investigations of the Trump White House.

200-odd Congressional Democrats are taking an odd route to go after corruption.

In the end, Impeachment is a political act more than a legal one. For that reason, Democrats should not pursue impeachment unless they have a reasonable chance of winning.

President Trump and the top Democrats in Congress announced a purported $2 trillion infrastructure deal but there’s no reason to believe it will ever become law.

There’s some very good news for Joe Biden in the first polls taken after he entered the Presidential race.

A cautious analyst makes a strong claim.

Ben Wittes succinctly describes a phenomenon that I’ve been struggling with for three years.

A new poll finds that most Americans do not support impeaching the President at this time, but they also don’t believe the President on the issues of Russian interference and obstruction.

Taking Joe Biden’s bait, President Trump once again defended his response to the racist rally in Charlottesville two years ago..

He’s tan. He’s rested. He’s ready. But is the Democratic Party going to buy what Joe Biden is selling?

Trump campaign officials are worried about the President’s chances of holding onto a state that was crucial to his win in 2020. They should be.

Larry Sabato lays out a quite plausible path.

The President has tied his all-time low in one prominent poll.

An argument for an exception to the style guides.

It seems as if Donald Trump finally has the AG he has always wanted.

Pete Buttigieg is getting a lot of attention for a relatively unknown candidate. but it’s unclear if it can last.

Some say yes, others no.

The findings are a dispiriting Rorschach test.

Thus far, the full(ish) release provides plenty of juicy details but no real revelations.

Let’s just say that he isn’t impressed.

The tone and content of President Trump’s 2020 campaign is already quite apparent.

Says “He’s pulling the rug out from the very people that are trying to help him accomplish his goal.”

Bernie also faces disclosure pressures.

In some expert trolling, the Senate Majority Leader decries “mindless, undiscriminating obstruction for the sake of obstruction.”

The peril of not yet running for President include not yet having a campaign staff in place.

Scholars argue that the shifting media landscape is largely to blame for our political crisis.

Another demonstration that evidence doesn’t much matter in modern American politics.

The decision to hand Democrats a victory and step on the good news from the Mueller report apparently came from the very top.

It’s possible to conclude that Pete Buttigieg is smarter than Elizabeth Warren for reasons having nothing to do with sex.

It’s the battleground states that are the issue, not small states v. large states.

Ultimately, it isn’t a very good one.

Only the best people, dontcha know.

Predictably, news that the investigation has ended has people on both sides cheering. It’s unwarranted.

Lock them up.

Already the longest-serving former President, he’ll pass George H.W. Bush as the longest-living tomorrow.

Would a similarly-situated woman be getting such over-the-top coverage?

Congress is doing its damned job for a change.

Minutes after a Federal judge added 43 months to his sentence, New York state prosecutors unsealed an indictment that could yield another 7 years.

The woman famous for losing the Georgia governor’s race is eyeing a bigger job.