Outside the Beltway

More security clearance problems for the White House.

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

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

Another day, another Court ruling against the Trump Administration.

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

A bipartisan group of Senators has proposed a largely reasonable fix to the DACA problem, but its fate remains unclear.

Poland’s new Holocaust legislation just keeps sounding worse and worse.

Despite what his own intelligence chiefs are saying, President Trump still does not believe that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

In my life I have not once, not a single time, encountered the name of Chelsea Handler in any context apart from Fox News articles. 

Another school shooting, this time in Florida.

Whether it’s the abuse angle or the more serious issue of security clearances, the White House still can’t get the story straight on the Rob Porter case.

Donald Trump’s lawyer admits to making a six-figure payment on the eve of the 2016 election to a porn star that Trump was alleged to have had an affair with. That just raises a host of other questions.

Another Federal Judge has placed a hold on President Trump’s order to end DACA.

Israeli police have recommended that charges be brought against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Whether that damages him politically remains to be seen.

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

While I don’t always agree with her, I’ve never ceased to be amazed at the sheer vitriol she inspires, given that she’s unfailingly polite, not discernibly partisan, and bends over backwards to acknowledge the merits of competing viewpoints.

Why does the U.S. continue to pursue the seemingly impossible goal of denuclearization with regard to North Korea? In part, it’s because we’re still locked into thirty-year-old rhetoric.

The Department of Education announced yesterday that it will no longer investigate civil rights complaints from transgender students regarding bathroom access in public schools.

The Trump Administration is seeking to overhaul the food stamps program.

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.

A Federal Court in New York City is set to hear argument tomorrow in a case that essentially argues that a large swath of Federal laws regarding marijuana are unconstitutional.

Women voters are turning decidedly against Donald Trump, this could pose problems for Republican in 2018 and beyond.

The only reason March 5th is “our last chance” at a DACA deal is if Trump makes it so.

If Trump is able to insist upon a package deal or no deal at all, he may muck up his chance of policy success, but it may be the Democrats who lose politically.

The Tea Party is dead, but it was never really alive to begin with.

Two classic pieces of American Literature have been banned from the curriculum in Duluth, Minnesota. This is a mistake.

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

Expecting North Korea to agree to diplomatic talks that are aimed at getting rid of their nuclear weapons is asking for the impossible, and ensuring there will be no progress on the diplomatic front for the foreseeable future.

Combining universal and mandatory (and free) college-board exams with a program for targeting college recruitment of disadvantaged groups could–if coupled with a commensurate financial commitment by the state to such groups–go some distance in bringing more qualified economically disadvantaged groups into higher education. 

One of the main objections that many on the right seem to have to proposals to legalize DACA beneficiaries and other illegal immigrants is the idea that they could eventually become citizens. There’s no good reason they shouldn’t be able to do so.

The Judge presiding over a case dealing with Trump’s proposed border wall expressed doubts about the project. The President will no doubt be irked by the identity of that Judge.

More than a year into the Trump Presidency, dozens of White House personnel lack proper security clearances.

Friday’s eight-hour shutdown was not the non-event it seemed from the outside.

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

As Brexit negotiations go on and the consequences of Britain leaving the European Union become clearer, some Britons are starting to ask for a chance at a second referendum.

Donald Trump has blocked the release of a memo prepared by House Intelligence Committee Democrats to rebut the Nunes memo. It’s hard not to see this as a blatantly partisan move.

WaPo is overhyping things a bit.

President Trump is reportedly considering replacing his chief of staff. Again.

Yet another top Trump administration official has resigned.

Bret Stephens thinks so.

The Rob Porter story, which is quickly becoming the Rob Porter scandal, tells us a lot about the Trump White House, and none of it is good.

My latest for RealClearDefense.

While most of America slept, the government was shutdown thanks to some faux theatrics by a single Senator.

Today in an increasingly liberal, educated, globalized, and democratic world, we have more reason than ever to listen to the opinion of our peers and, where appropriate, to be open to their counsel.

A Federal Judge In Kansas has blocked enforcement of a state law barring anyone who does business with the state from engaging in a boycott of Israel.