Outside the Beltway

Two seemingly contradictory essays out today highlight the exhausting political conversation environment.

Netflix no longer offers President Frank Underwood. They’re lining up a replacement.

North Korea’s Dear Leader has baited the President of the United States into a trap.

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

While Team Trump has gone out of its way to waylay the Russia investigation, this may not be is part of that effort.

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

How ‘tainted’ must a funder be before a charity is obliged to reject the donation?

After six months, Angela Merkel has apparently succeeded in forming a coalition government.

Four social media stars have been fired from their television show after the revelation that Pamela Gellar is their mother.

Responsible governance from the Golden State?

Once again, the Administration is walking back the President’s statements on a controversial issue.

Yet more absurdity from Brussels, where regulators seemingly don’t understand how the Internet works.

The President provided a contender for most ignorant tweet this morning, as he makes a proposal that would disrupt the global economy.

President Trump has announced that he’ll be imposing significant tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. This is an unwise decision.

President Trump appeared to change positions on several gun control ideas, but he probably doesn’t mean it.

A recent change to the way the social media giant selects articles readers see first has crushed a web magazine.

The White House chief of staff has downgraded the President’s son-in-law’s access to classified information. We’ll see how long that lasts.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rules that existing civil rights laws bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The Obama Administration called and wants its foreign policy back.

What is CPAC telling us about the contemporary conservative movement?

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have released a memo that completely eviscerates the memo prepared by Committee Chairman Devin Nunes.

Mexico’s President canceled a visit to the United States for the second time since Donald Trump became President due to a continued disagreement over who will pay for Trump’s border wall.

More than a dozen companies have ended relationships with the gun rights organization and protesters are demanding more follow suit.

Some thoughts on the biggest Marvel blockbuster yet. [Modest spoilers]

The Defense Department will reportedly recommend to President Trump that transgender members of the service currently serving in the military be allowed to continue serving.

National Security Adviser H.L. McMaster is the latest person rumored to be considering moving on from the Trump Administration.

President Trump is pressing the idea of arming teachers to stop shootings in schools.

The students who survived last week’s mass shooting in Parkland, Florida are speaking out, and some on the right are responding by engaging in personal attacks and spreading conspiracy theories.

While the glass ceiling in high-level posts was shattered decades ago, men still dominate the field.

President Trump is calling on the Justice Department to ban bump stocks, but it seems clear that this is an area where Congress needs to be taking the lead.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has redrawn the state’s Congressional Districts based on its recent ruling finding the current map to be unconstitutional partisan Gerrymandering. It makes a lot more sense than the map the state is currently using.

Donald Trump’s dereliction of duty in response to clear evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election is a staggering and flagrant dereliction of the duties he agreed to take on when he took the Oath Of Office more than a year ago.

President Trump’s tweets, other public statements, and actions are causing world leaders to doubt the reliability of the United States on the world stage.

The Russian government likely is quite pleased.

Donald Trump is now claiming that he had never denied that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. This is, of course, not true.

The tragedy in Florida last week revealed once again how hyperpartisanship is destroying our politics and harming the country.

There are no adequate words.

Even with yesterday’s indictments, President Trump still won’t acknowledge reality even though it’s staring him in the face.

Phil Carter makes an interesting argument but he’s ultimately mistaken.

From the F.B.I. on down, there were multiple warnings that could have prevented Wednesday’s tragedy in Parkland, Florida.

A significant and important development in the Russia investigation that shows that President Trump’s claim that the stories of Russian interference in the 2016 election were “Fake News” is completely untrue.

To the surprise of nobody, Mitt Romney entered the race to succeed Orrin Hatch in the Senate. He’ll probably win.

Another day, another Court ruling against the Trump Administration.

President Trump’s military parade would come with a not insignificant cost.

Another school shooting, this time in Florida.

With time seemingly running out, the Senate debate over extending DACA is moving slowly.

Intelligence officials are warning that the Russians are set to seek to influence the 2018 elections just as they did in 2016. Despite this, the Trump Administration refuses to acknowledge this publicly while the President seeks to undermine the investigation into past Russian interference.

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

President Trump spoke up about the spousal abuse charges against his former Staff Secretary Rob Porter. His response was entirely predictable.