Outside the Beltway

After nearly 20 years in office, Harry Reid announced early today that he would not seek reelection in 2016.

Ted Cruz kicks off with the first of what is likely to be a string of candidates getting into the 2016 race in the coming month.

As expected, Republicans have caved in the showdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Just as his political star is rising among conservatives, Scott Walker is walking back his previous support for immigration reform.

The House was set to vote on a ban on abortion after 20 weeks that never would have become law today but they pulled the bill. Conservatives are annoyed, but it was smart politics in the long run.

The Tea Party may be the most vocal wing of the GOP but most Republicans seems to favor candidates that aren’t quite so right wing.

Even with a House and Senate majority, the GOP is unlikely to get what it wants in its current immigration battle with the President.

He’s tan. He’s rested. And, apparently, he’s ready. Mitt Romney seems very interested in 2016 all of a sudden.

The terror attack in Paris seems likely to undercut GOP efforts to use the DHS budget to attack the President’s immigration policies.

In the end, the Tea Party challenge to John Boehner was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Over the weekend, Mike Huckabee took another step that suggests that he is indeed planning on running for President in 2016.

Several Tea Party backed Members of Congress claim to be challenging John Boehner in tomorrow’s vote for Speaker. They are, of course, delusional.

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 opposition from both Republicans and Democrats, the compromise budget resolution passed narrowly last night, but not without some last minute drama

Judging by recent polling, the President’s executive action has hardened GOP opposition to immigration reform, making progress on the issue going forward much less likely.

It looks like Congress has averted a budget fight for the second straight year.

The GOP donor class would like the 2016 race to be short and sweet, but that’s unlikely to happen.

Michele Bachmann leaves office at the end of the current Congress, but we may not have heard the last from her.

The House approved a bill to protest the President’s executive action on immigration that will go nowhere. The question is whether it will placate the right.

Ben Carson is not a serious candidate for President, but he’s likely to get a lot of support from the GOP’s Tea Party wing.

It’s an old story. Republican leadership wants to avoid a government shutdown, but the hard core conservatives want a fight, this time over the President’s immigration action. We have a week to see how it unfolds.

Some on the right are suggesting that Congress retaliate against the President’s executive action on immigration by refusing to invite him to give the State Of The Union Address.

Today is a day for turkey and football, not a day for politics.

Sen. Charles Schumer says Democrats made a mistake by concentrating on getting health care reform passed instead of on fixing the economy.

If the President now believes he can act unilaterally on immigration reform, why did he spend the last five years saying that he couldn’t?

Republicans don’t really have many options if the President pulls the trigger on immigration reform via executive action.

The GOP’s big wins last week seem to be just guaranteeing that this year’s battle between the Tea Party and the “establishment” will continue.

Despite the conciliatory language after Tuesday, it’s unlikely that much will change in Washington in the next two years.

The party’s loss of Senate control has basically sealed Landrieu’s fate.

Tuesday’s Republican wave didn’t change the fundamentals.

Political scientists tend to be less dramatic than commentators.

What happened Tuesday? And what does it tell us about 2016?

The GOP added to its majority in the House, giving it the biggest majority it has had since Truman was President.

2014 was not supposed to be a wave election, but it clearly qualifies as one.

Always as many military personnel identify as Independents as with the GOP.

Rebranding alone isn’t going to fix what’s causing the GOP to lose ground among a whole host of demographic groups.

The odds say that the GOP will end up with a Senate majority in the 114th Congress when all the votes are counted, but if it doesn’t happen then there’s likely to be quite a battle inside the GOP.

It’s been three months, but there’s been no action on the lawsuit that the House of Representatives said it was filing against President Obama.

The most bizarre race of 2014 is finally over.

A Federal Judge has dismissed lawsuits filed by Tea Party groups over the IRS targeting scandal.

Despite conventional wisdom, there remains little incentive for the GOP to change its position on immigration reform.

For the ninth time since 1974, the next Governor of Maine will likely be elected with less than 50% of the vote.

Remember the border crisis? Yea, it’s not much of a crisis these days.