Outside the Beltway

…and I write a bit more than that.

A chilling feature from the Wall Street Journal.

Further escalation is inevitable.

A truly weird story.

Slavery is an inextricable part of our past, whether we want to talk about it or not.

A bill in Alabama would bar Chinese nationals from buying property in the state.

An odd set of Senators have a really bad idea.

Hubris has set back the cause of science.

Some Democrats are angry!

No one should draw conclusions about RCV from the AK special election.

The Defense Department shares the worst-kept secret about the war effort.

Republicans competing to see who can be the toughest on crime

A long-overdue change appears to be happening.

The fact-checkers blew this one and blew it big.

Stoking a bizarre fantasy that will not die.

Key posts across the government remain unfilled.

The Senate’s last conservative Democrat is taking President Biden’s call for unity seriously.

What we have here is failure to communicate.

The President of the United States is a national security threat. Can we get rid of him now?

AZ, GA, and Pa are on the table.

What would a reborn GOP look like and who would vote for it?

Could a blue state governor be the future of the Republican Party?

President Trump has named his pick for Labor Secretary.

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

Former Senator and Denocratic Presidential candidate Jim Webb is reportedly being considered for Defense Secretary.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed major reforms in Federal sentencing and related laws. As the name of the bill implies, it’s a first step, but a good first step.

Senator Mitch McConnell and others are blocking a criminal justice reform bill currently pending in the Senate.

As a general rule, Presidents are entitled to have a Cabinet and advisers he is comfortable with, but a Cabinet full of “yes men” is not ideal with any President, and certainly not with this one.

The prospect for a fix to help DACA beneficiaries is looking gloomier than ever.

The White House’s immigration plan is facing opposition in both chambers of Congress from moderate and conservative Republicans alike.

With only days to go, Congress seems unable to come up with either a funding deal for the Federal Government or a solution to the DACA issue.

It appears that Rex Tillerson’s days at the State Department may be numbered, but his proposed replacement leaves a lot to be desired.

An attempt to explain the consequences of institutional design.

Despite the fact that everyone seems to agree that Iran is complying with the nuclear weapons deal, President Trump took steps that will undermine that agreement and do serious damage to American credibility around the world.

Reports are indicating that President Trump will decertify the nuclear weapons deal with Iran. This would be a foolish and potentially dangerous mistake.

The fundamental premise at the heart of the immigration bill that President Trump backed earlier this month has no merit whatsoever.

The President has endorsed a bill that would cut legal immigration in half.

President Trump has actually made a good pick for National Security Adviser. As with the rest of his foreign policy team, though, the question is if he’ll listen to him.

There were fireworks on the floor of the Senate last night, but it was really just politics as usual.

Two Republican Senators are introducing legislation that would result in drastic reductions in the number of people allowed into the country legally.

With repeal of the Affordable Care Act now likely sooner rather than later, key Republicans are urging the party to have a replacement in place before repeal is voted on.

John McCain said that Senate Republicans will unite to block any Supreme Court appointment by a President Hillary Clinton.

Another sign of a weak economy as the Federal Reserve considers rate hikes and the Presidential campaign moves forward.

The 2016 Republican Convention is barely halfway over, but some Republicans are already looking ahead to 2020.

The Veepstakes continues.

Ten American sailors detained by Iranian forces late Tuesday were released early today, something that seems to clearly demonstrate the value of diplomacy.

Some Republicans are threatening a government shutdown over funding of Planned Parenthood, but a new poll shows that it would be a big political risk for Republicans.

Congress is set to debate the Iran nuclear deal next month, but as far as Europe is concerned the debate is already over.

In the end, the odds that Congress can actually stop the new deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program are pretty low.

Depending on who you listen to, it’s either peace in our time or an epic catastrophe.