Outside the Beltway

As expected, the Senate rejected four gun control measures introduced in the wake of the attack in Orlando.

Woman who liberated slaves to replace slaveholding President who presided over Native American genocide on American currency.

Two Republicans who broke with their party to support hearings for Judge Merrick Garland have changed their minds and gotten back in line with the Senate GOP Caucus.

Conservatives are doing all they can to make sure Merrick Garland does not get either a hearing or a vote in the Senate, and it’s working.

Another Republican Senator has broken ranks and called for hearings on the nomination of Merrick Garland, as another poll shows most Americans support hearings as well.

It increasingly appears that the GOP is on the losing side of the argument over whether to hold hearings and a vote on the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.

A crack in the wall.

President Obama has selected his nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court, now the question is whether the Senate will act.

Notwithstanding polling that indicates the American public disagrees with them, Senate Republicans emerged from a meeting today largely united on the idea of not giving any Supreme Court nominee named by President a hearing, or even the courtesy of a meeting.

The NYT paints the longshot senator as a happy warrior trying to win the White House by doing it his way.

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.

Senate Republicans have done more harm to the goal of stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons than they have done good.

Now that they control all of Congress, some Republicans are suddenly deciding that the filibuster should be repealed.

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.

Despite speculation, both Angus King and Joe Manchin will stay with the Democratic caucus. And that makes sense for both of them.

The GOP has a good chance of taking the Senate in 2014, but it will be by a narrow margin.

It’s no wonder there’s no compromise in Congress.

Are these four men our last, best hope for a deal that will end the shutdown and avoid breaching the debt ceiling?

Harry and Mitch to the rescue?

With the House’s proposed deal reaching an impasse, the Senate is now taking center stage.

The Senate moved last night to end the airport delays caused by furloughing air traffic controllers.

The odds that any of the Senators who voted no on Manchin/Toomey will pay a political price for doing so is low.

For the moment, Republicans appear to be blocking Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense but they don’t seem to know why they’re doing it.

Chuck Hagel will be confirmed, but the campaign against him tells us much about the current state of Republican foreign policy

While no official announcements have been made, President Obama’s second term national security team appears to be taking shape.

The GOP’s hopes of taking over the Senate in 2012 have all but slipped away, but there is another option.

Whether Mitt Romney wins or loses, the GOP needs to evolve or be doomed to minority party status.

As its convention begins, one has to wonder what has happened to the Republican Party.

The arguments behind the Paycheck Fairness Act do not hold up to scrutiny.

A Northeastern Republican announces retirement. And GOP hopes for control of the Senate in 2013 become more tenuous.

Some Northeastern Senators want to make selling fake maple syrup a federal offense.