Outside the Beltway

Donald Trump broke his silence on Stormy Daniels. That was a bad idea.

Republicans are claiming that Conor Lamb won Tuesday’s Special Election in Pennsylvania because he campaigned as a conservative. These people are either deluded or lying.

Best known as a television host, he served in the Reagan administration and chief economist of Bear Stearns.

Individual races are idiosyncratic. But there are nonetheless some lessons here.

It is a fair question. But judging the Trump administration on tax cuts, Gorsuch, and the DJIA is to ignore a lot of profound problems.

A better than expected jobs report for February, but wage growth slowed for the month.

The legal distinction between “personal capacity” and “official capacity” makes no sense for senior presidential appointees.

The chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors is out after failing to convince the boss not to impose tariffs.

POLITICO buries the lede in making the case for “Donald Trump’s bubble presidency.”

Democrats appear to have regained momentum in the Generic Congressional Ballot.

The Trump Administration is seeking to overhaul the food stamps program.

Republicans spent the eight years of Obama Administration railing against fiscal irresponsibility. Now that they have power, they’re the ones being fiscally irresponsible.

While most of America slept, the government was shutdown thanks to some faux theatrics by a single Senator.

Congress seems likely to pass a budget deal today that will massively increase spending, putting to rest once and for all the rank hypocrisy of Republicans when it comes to claims that they are “fiscally conservative.”

Donald Trump spent much of the past year touting the rising stock market, now he’s getting a lesson in reality.

In addition to deadlines on the Federal Budget and DACA, Congress also has to deal with the debt ceiling at some point in the next month.

The President talked about national unity last night, but given his own rhetoric as a candidate and as a President, it’s a call that seems to be hypocritical.

The economy grew in the final quarter of 2017, but at a slower pace than earlier in the year and far slower than what the President has promised.

It’s been seven years since Congress eliminated earmarking, and what we’ve seen has provided good evidence for the argument that it should never have been eliminated.

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

One year after his Inauguration, Donald Trump is the most unpopular new President since the invention of modern polling. However, his numbers are generally the same that they’ve been for some time now.

A new poll shows President Trump losing to a “Generic Democrat.” This poll means nothing.

Republicans passed their tax bill yesterday. What that means for the economy and the 2018 midterms is another question.

The final version of the tax bill appears to be on track for passage, but the devil is in the details.

House and Senate Republicans say they have reached agreement on a final tax bill, and Democrats are engaging in an effort to delay a vote in the Senate until Doug Jones can be seated.

President Trump has formally endorsed an accused child molester for the United States Senate.

The Senate passed a tax cut bill last night, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

With time running out in the year, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that the Senate GOP will be able to meet its deadlines on passing a tax reform bill.

President Trump put his thumb on the scale for Roy Moore, ignoring the allegations of harassment and sexual abuse that have been made against the candidate.

Voters rank factors before choosing how to vote.

There’s growing evidence that Donald Trump’s tweets are hurting him but his aides have basically given up trying to control his Twitter habit.

House Republicans passed their tax reform bill. That was the easy part.

For some reason, Senate Republicans want to attach a bad health care reform idea onto an already controversial tax reform bill.

Republicans have a Donald Trump problem, and they can’t run away from it.

It’s been two years since John Boehner stepped down as Speaker, and he’s got a few things to say about his former colleagues and the state of American politics.

Republicans finally unveiled the outlines of a tax reform package yesterday, but the devil is in the still to be determined details.

Republicans will introduce a tax package by the end of the month, but whether they can actually pass anything is another question entirely.

Winning was easy.  Legislating is hard.

Plus some comparisons of Trump/Obama and Trump/Bill Clinton.

Thoughts on the quality of our democracy.

Once again, a bad CBO score is casting doubt on a Republican health care reform bill.

No wonder they wrote it in secret and want to move quickly to a vote…

In addition to everything else on its plate, Congress will have to revisit raising the debt ceiling again sometime this summer.

Economic growth in the first quarter wasn’t as bad as first estimated, but it still wasn’t very good. And the future is unclear at best.

The American Health Care Act may have sailed through the House, but the Senate is another story.