Outside the Beltway

In a late first-day session, Congress passed a series of bills designed to reopen most of the government, but they’re already ‘dead on arrival’ in the Senate.

Not surprisingly, President Trump significantly accelerated the pace of his lies in 2018.

In his annual message, Kim Jong Un sent a message to President Trump on denuclearization and the future of the Korean Peninsula.

Before even taking office, Mitt Romney is taking on the President. It’s a good sign, but we’ll see what it leads to.

President Trump began 2019 pretty much how he ended 2018, with irrational rants on Twitter.

That’s not how it works.

Democrats have unveiled what appears as if it will be their first effort to end the shutdown, but there are already signs Republicans will reject it.

President Trump is now threatening to close the border if he doesn’t get funding for his border wall.

Begun, the 2020 campaign has.

As 2018 draws to a close, there’s no sign that the government shutdown will end any time soon.

I’m not saying it was aliens, but……..

The fact that this President is a congenital liar is well-known. The actual number of lies less than two years into his Presidency, though, is astounding.

The numbers should guide policy, not silly symbols.

Christmas is behind us, but don’t expect any progress when it comes to the government shutdown, which is in its fifth day.

President Trump tried to get into the Christmas spirit last night. He failed.

More evidence that Trump does not know what he is doing.

While it has an admitted populist appeal. the idea of Congressional pay being withheld during a shutdown is a non-starter due to the Constitution.

With Congress out of town until at least Thursday and negotiations apparently deadlocked, the White House is saying it’s likely the shutdown will last into 2019.

President Trump announced today that James Mattis would be out as Secretary of Defense by the end of the year.

President Trump has lost another one of his top advisers on the fight against ISIS.

There was no progress on resolving the government shutdown today, and little hope that anything will happen before late next week.

The government entered its third shutdown of the year with little sign of an immediate resolution.

With just hours to go, a partial government shutdown is becoming more and more likely.

In what clearly appears to be a rebuke of the President, Defense Secretary James Mattis is retiring as Secretary of Defense.

Hours before the House was set to vote on a temporary funding bill for the government, President Trump has apparently changed his mind.

The North Korean government is making clear what it means when it speaks of denuclearization, and its far different from what the United States means.

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.

The Trump Administration is reportedly preparing to withdraw the small contingent of American troops from Syria. If it actually happens, this would be a good move.

The mystery surrounding a secret proceeding in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation has at least partly been solved.

As expected, the Justice Department has issued a new rule banning bump stocks. However, it is likely to face legal challenges.

Thanks apparently to the fact that it remained unwilling to get in line behind the Trumpidians, the conservative owner of The Weekly Standard has shut the magazine down.

The scandal-plagued Secretary of the Interior is leaving office at the end of the year.

On the way out the door, Scott Walker signed a bill to take powers away from his successor (and demonstrated a lack of understanding of Venn diagrams).

Eight years after it was signed into law, a Federal Judge has ruled the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional.

Trump has selected current Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to replace John Kelly as Chief of Staff, but that’s unlikely to change how the West Wing operates.

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

Theresa May is facing an unexpected challenge to her leadership even as she deals with trying to save a Brexit deal that nobody seems to like.

Theresa May is trying to save a Brexit deal that appears to be becoming more doomed by the day.

Europe’s highest Court appeared to hand the United Kingdom a way of escaping Brexit altogether if it chose to go that route. This will greatly complicate the domestic political situation for Theresa May.

This month’s budget fight is likely the last chance the President will have to get any funding for his border wall.

President Trump’s first choice to replace John Kelly as Chief of Staff turned the job down, leading one to wonder why anyone would want the job.

French authorities are investigating reports that Russian interference may be helping to exploit and expand the five-week-old “yellow vest” protests.

Cory Booker’s interest in running for President has been an open secret for some time, now he’s being far less coy about it.

This time, the rumors about John Kelly leaving appear to be true.

Lies and possible evidence of obstruction of justice make up the bulk of Robert Mueller’s new case against former Trump campaign director Paul Manafort.

Current attempts to take power away from the state executive branch illustrates a lot of what I have been writing about for years.

Moscow continues using information warfare to sow division in Western society.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the U.S, Attorney for the Southern District of New York have filed sentencing memos that directly implicate the President in a series of felonies.

There’s yet another rumor that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly could be on the way out.