Outside the Beltway

Contrary to the claims that were made by conservatives and Trump supporters before its release, the memo prepared by Congressman Devin Nunes has done nothing to undermine the Russia investigation.

Congress seems likely to pass a budget deal today that will massively increase spending, putting to rest once and for all the rank hypocrisy of Republicans when it comes to claims that they are “fiscally conservative.”

Yesterday’s Falcon Heavy Launch was a near-complete success and another amazing advance in the race to the stars.

Administration officials are admitting that it’s likely that Russia will try to interfere in the midterm elections just as it did in 2016, but they don’t seem inclined to do anything about it.

Of course Donald Trump wants a military parade, it would be consistent with his delusions of grandeur.

Last week, the President was calling for national unity. This week, he called political opponents “treasonous.”

Congress appears to be moving closer to a budget deal even as the President tries to throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing.

The rise of ‘car sharing’ services has greatly benefitted consumers but had a devastating effect on taxi drivers.

Recent polls have caused Republicans to become more optimistic about their chances in this year’s midterms. That optimism is both premature and misplaced.

In a healthy democracy we need not agree, nor must we finally even respect one another’s objects of devotion.  But we should exercise a salutary measure of mutual forbearance and be willing to acknowledge that no side has a monopoly on either truth or justice.

Poland’s President has signed a controversial bill that purports to criminalize any effort to tie Poland to the Holocaust.

Michele Bachmann asked God if she should run for the U.S. Senate. Apparently, she got an answer.

A new poll indicates that most Americans support a DACA deal, but don’t think it should be linked to measures to avoid a government shutdown.

Donald Trump spent much of the past year touting the rising stock market, now he’s getting a lesson in reality.

President Trump has harsh words for Democrats who didn’t applaud his SOTU.

Donald Trump’s own lawyers are afraid he can’t help but lie to such an extent that he should not sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller.

In the United States, in contrast, the judgment citizens hold of the media, along increasingly with everything else, turns on one’s identification with a political tribe. 

With Republicans fully in control in Washington, their concerns about the budget deficit seem to have disappeared.

The Supreme Court has declined to stay a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling requiring the legislature to redraw the state’s Congressional District map.

Congress seems no closer to a DACA deal than they were in January.

After an extended break for the Republican retreat, Congress heads back to work today with just three days before a possible government shutdown.

They’re right. And there’s precious little they can do about it.

Dodge is facing controversy this morning for using the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in a Super Bowl commercial, but they’re not the only party who may have some questions to answer.

Two Amtrak crashes in less than a week is newsworthy. It is not, however, a trend.

One of the oddities of military culture is the constan

A newly released poll has encouraging signs for Democrats in 2018, but there are several caveats.

A confusing new report from the Washington Post.

Have we reached the point where the processing speed, connectivity, and cameras on our smart phones are simply good enough?

The two most important allegations in the Nunes memo appear to be complete lies.

Will Joe Arpaio cause the GOP to lose an otherwise winnable Senate race?

Mostly it just tells us that Nunes and his allies are hacks.

President Trump is claiming that the Nunes memo vindicates him. He’s wrong.

He’s tan. He’s rested. He’s ready. And, yes, he’s running.

Senator Mark Warner, Vice-Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, says, “We Need Revolution, Not Just Evolution” in Security Clearances.”

My latest for The National Interest takes a contrarian view on the new National Defense Strategy.

National Review legal analyst David French argues that the Nunes memo actually undermines the central claim its proponents were seeking to bolster.

The 2008 Republican nominee for president condemned his party and its president for the release of a controversial memo attacking the FBI.

The military options thus far presented for dealing with the DPRK have not been satisfying.

Republicans have released the memo prepared by Congressman Devin Nunes that purports to call into question the basis for the Russia investigation. In the end, though, it amounts to much ado about nothing.

The first jobs report for 2018 beat expectation slightly, but the most positive signs came in the underlying data on wages.

After spending much of 2017 trying to do it, Republicans are giving up on any effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act before the midterms.

The current budget deal expires in six days and Congress doesn’t seem to know what it’s going to do about it.

The guy who found Al Capone’s vault wishes we had a guy like Sean Hannity back in the Watergate era.

What seems like a nothingburger story from CNN.

When it comes to foreign policy, Donald Trump has no over-arching philosophy and little knowledge, so don’t expect anything approaching a coherent doctrine from his Administration.

Donald Trump lies about even the most trivial matters, How are we supposed to believe anything else he says?