Outside the Beltway

Congress is doing its damned job for a change.

There appear to be enough votes in the Senate to pass the resolution disapproving President Trump’s border wall “emergency,” but there’s not enough Republican support to override an expected veto.

The House of Representatives voted yesterday to block the President’s declaration of an “emergency” at the southern border. Now the matter goes to the Senate.

While not subject to filibuster, it’s still subject to Presidential veto.

Supreme Court watcher Jeffrey Toobin speculates that Clarence Thomas could be the next Supreme Court Justice to step aside.

After an essentially pointless 35 day shutdown, some members of the House and Senate are proposing bills that would make government shutdowns impossible.

The Senate rejected Republican and Democratic proposals as expected but there are some signs of movement forward.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case that could make it easier for consumers to buy and ship wine and other adult beverages across state lines.

Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a case that could make it easier to order and ship wine from out-of-state retailers.

Kansas Senator Pat Roberts is the second Republican to announce his retirement, but his seat should remain safely red.

Tennessee will have an open Senate seat in 2020 thanks to Lamar Alexander’s decision to retire at the end of his current term.

In a small, but meaningful, step, the Senate has rebuked the Administration’s policies toward the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Federal prosecutors are investigating the Trump Inaugural Committee, adding to the long list of the President’s legal troubles.

National Security Adviser John Bolton offered an utterly absurd explanation for why he had not listened to the tape of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

Senator Jeff Flake is threatening to vote against President Trump’s judicial nominees unless he gets a floor vote on a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

It would be a rather quixotic effort, but Jeff Flake isn’t ruling out challenging the President for the Republican nomination in 2020.

Whether as candidates or as voters, Democrats can thank women for many of their victories on Tuesday.

The 2018 midterms were mostly about Donald Trump. The results were idiosyncratic.

For better or worse, here are my projections for the midterm elections.

With less than forty-eight hours to go until voters head to the polls, the odds are pointing to a Democratic House and a Republican Senate.

With one week to go before Election Day, Democrats seem well-positioned to gain control of the House while Republicans seem likely to hold on to the Senate.

With three weeks to go until Election Day, it’s looking like we’ll end up with a Congress divided between Democrats in the House and Republicans in the Senate.

The first poll taken in the wake of the Kavanaugh nomination fight suggests the voter enthusiasm gap is shifting toward Democrats.

President Trump is choosing money and moral cowardice over human life in his response to the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

The evidence that Saudi Arabia murdered Washington Post columnist and American Permanent resident Jamal Khashoggi appears to be incontrovertible.

With four weeks to go until Election Day, Donald Trump and the Republicans are continuing to stoke the divisions laid bare by the Kavanaugh nomination.

Should celebrities use their influence in partisan politics?

In an ordinary year with an ordinary candidate New Jersey should be a slam dunk for Democrats. This, however, is not an ordinary year.

Attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford want the F.B.I. to investigate the charges she has made against Judge Kavanaugh before she testifies, but it’s entirely unclear what such an investigation would accomplish.

Cracks are beginning to show in the previously united Republican front on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation notwithstanding what appear to be credible allegations of sexual assault.

With the primaries over, we can say that it’s been quite a successful year for women in politics.

The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh is, effectively, assured. Democrats should be careful about how much further they push their opposition.

The GOP’s hold on the Bob Corker’s Senate seat in Tennessee may be in jeopardy.

The first significant post-primary poll of the Florida Senate race shows a dead heat between Governor Rick Scott and Senator Bill Nelson.

As expected, Rick Scott easily won the GOP nomination for Senate in Florida, setting up one of the most highly anticipated Senate races of the year.

President Trump’s much-hyped replacement for NAFTA doesn’t really amount to much and won’t amount to anything unless he can get Canada, and the U.S. Congress, on board.

Donald Trump’s vanity-seeking military parade has been postponed amid reports that the estimated cost has increased dramatically.

A new study claims voter ID laws may disenfranchise the demographic, potentially swinging several Congressional races.

The Republican Party’s nominee for Senator in Virginia really is as bad as you’ve heard, probably worse.

You might say he body slammed the opposition.

In the wake of a grievance filed by the union representing players, the N.F.L. has suspended the new National Anthem policy it announced earlier this year. This guarantees even more cynical political exploitation by the President.

The Democratic National Committee is one step closer to adopting a rule change that would make superdelegates largely irrelevant to the party’s nomination process.

What was once a rare symbol of national mourning has become so commonplace as to be meaningless.

President Trump’s short list of potential Supreme Court nominees consists mostly of conventionally conservative, well-qualified, jurists.

President Trump once said that “trade wars are good and easy to win.” It’s only been three months since he started this war and we’re already finding out just how wrong he is about that.

The Administration is going to unveil a plan for a major reorganization of government agencies today.

Seemingly out of nowhere yesterday, the Commander-in-Chief ordered the Pentagon to create a fifth service.

The Trump Administration’s new legal position on coverage for people with pre-existing conditions could pose political problems in the fall.

After a period where Republicans seemed to be closing the gap, Democrats may be widening their lead heading into November.

Republicans are at least a bit more confident that they’ll hold on to the Senate this year.