Outside the Beltway

Donald Trump is talking about a tax cut that appears to exist only in his own mind.

Republicans passed a tax cut bill in December they hoped would help in the midterm elections. It has turned out to be a big dud.

Some Democrats and political pundits are putting Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke forward as a potential 2020 candidate, but he says no.

A new poll shows a decided turn toward the Democratic candidates for Governor and Senator in Florida, but it may be an outlier.

Most Americans think Justice Kavanaugh was at least partly deceptive in his response to allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford and other women.

President Trump is heaping praise on a Congressman who physically assaulted a reporter.

The Saudis are now apparently getting ready to push out a fall guy for the death of Jamal Khashoggi, an explanation as absurd as all the others they have offered to date.

Nearly two years into Republican control of Washington, the budget deficit is headed back up.

With three weeks to go until Election Day, it’s looking like we’ll end up with a Congress divided between Democrats in the House and Republicans in the Senate.

For a number of reasons, we may not know the outcome of the midterm elections on Election Night.

The first poll taken in the wake of the Kavanaugh nomination fight suggests the voter enthusiasm gap is shifting toward Democrats.

President Trump is choosing money and moral cowardice over human life in his response to the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

New polling in a bellwether Congressional District in Northern Virginia appears to signal bad news ahead for the GOP.

New polling shows that a majority of Americans are opposed to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, but the vast amount of Republicans support it.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley says he would not consider a Supreme Court nominee in 2020. But does he really mean it?

Beto O’Rourke isn’t eager to get Barack Obama’s endorsement, but there’s a good reason why.

Open mouth, insert foot. Chuck Grassley didn’t exactly help his party when he was asked to explain the lack of Republican women on the Judiciary Committee.

One last Kavanaugh Cold Open.

After a long and contentious battle, Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed to become the 114th Supreme Court Justice.

With the support of two holdout Senators, the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh now appears to be all but official.

The Senate voted to proceed to an expected floor vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court tomorrow, but the final outcome is still uncertain.

September jobs growth fell short of expectations even as the top-line unemployment rate reached a point unseen since 1969.

Brett Kavanaugh is expressing some regrets over his performance last Thursday, but it’s largely far too little, far too late.

As the Senate prepares for a key procedural vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh this morning, the Judge’s fate remains up in the air. However, signs are pointing to reasons for Republican optimism.

Despite his ethical issues, Bob Menendez appears to be solidifying his position in New Jersey’s Senate race.

At least for the moment, the fight over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court appears to be helping Republicans rally their base for November. The question is whether it will last after the fight is over.

The F.B.I.’s updated background check is complete and will be reviewed by Senators beginning today. As a result, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is moving forward toward a final vote on the Kavanaugh nomination later this week.

While I was originally content to let Brett Kavanaugh sail through to confirmation, I now feel compelled to oppose his nomination to be a Supreme Court Justice.

After roughly a week of staying silent, President Trump decided last night to openly mock Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

The GOP has no alternative but to push forward with the Kavanaugh nomination, because they don’t have a viable alternative at this point.

After placing limits on the scope of the F.B.I.’s reopened background investigation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the White House has relented and is allowing a more open-ended investigation.

Is the reopened investigation of Brett Kavanaugh a real investigation of the charges made against him by three separate women, or is it a political sham? It’s beginning to look much more like the latter than the former.

Saturday Night Live inevitably mocked the Ford/Kavanaugh hearing on Thursday in their cold open.

Surprise developments yesterday led to a pause in the confirmation process for Brett Kavanaugh. Where it goes from here is unclear.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the floor, but a last minute maneuver could delay a final vote pending an F.B.I. investigation.

President Trump is once again threatening to lower the tariff hammer on one of America’s most reliable allies and biggest trading partners.

Republicans intend to “plow through” on the Kavanaugh nomination even after yesterday’s hearing, but it’s not clear that they have the votes to confirm him.

After eight hours of testimony, the only impression a non-partisan mind could be left with from the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh is that we need a full investigation of the charges against the Supreme Court nominee. Unfortunately, we’re not going to get that.

For better or worse, and likely for worse, the latest round of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings is moving forward.

Just hours before hearings that will likely determine the fate of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, new accusations and revelations are coming to light.

Less than a day before a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a third woman has come forward with new allegations involving Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

In an ordinary year with an ordinary candidate New Jersey should be a slam dunk for Democrats. This, however, is not an ordinary year.

Republicans have set a Judiciary Committee vote for less than a day after hearing from Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Contrary to what they believed back in December. Republicans are finding that the tax reform bill is not helping them in the midterm elections.

Six siblings of Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar are starring in political ads against him. This is just another unfortunate example of the extent to which our political culture has been ruined by hyperpartisan polarization.

Based on their own rhetoric, it seems clear that Republicans don’t really care what Christine Blasey Ford has to say regarding what happened to her in 1982.

New allegations of sexual misconduct mark the start of a crucial week for the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Some details still need to be worked out, but it looks as though Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will be testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Regardless of who wins control of the Senate in November, the person who will stand third in the line of succession will either be over, or very close to, eighty years old. That doesn’t make sense.

The status of a potential hearing in the Brett Kavanaugh nomination regarding the charges made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford remain unclear, but the likelihood is that she will testify in the end.