Outside the Beltway

The situation isn’t as awful as portrayed by the AP—but it’s still pretty bad.

America promised immigrants who volunteered to serve in our military a fast track to citizenship. Now, we’re throwing them out.

The National Debt has passed $21,000,000,000,000 for the first time in history just as the nation begins its return to the era of trillion dollar budget deficits.

Donald Trump continues to do something that Russian and Soviet leaders likely only thought possible in their wildest dreams, drive a wedge between the United States and its NATO allies.

Donald Trump continues to demonstrate that he has nothing but utter contempt for the Rule of Law. At some point, he will either be called to account for this or our nation’s institutions will suffer as a result.

A thinly-sourced report says Yes.

The Vietnam memorial helped heal a gaping wound. What purpose will this one serve?

Seemingly out of nowhere yesterday, the Commander-in-Chief ordered the Pentagon to create a fifth service.

Hurricane Trump hit the G-7 this weekend, and the damage it left behind will take years to clean up.

For the second time in three years, we have a Triple Crown winner.

Once again, President Trump seems intent on insulting a major American ally.

Echoing the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration is arguing that it did not need Congressional authorization to attack Syria earlier this year.

The Republican Governor of Missouri is resigning amid growing accusations related to an extramarital affair, blackmail, and sexual assault.

An aggressive worldwide vaccination program has brought us to the point where we may soon be able to declare the eradication of Polio. That is a great thing and another argument against the anti-vaxxers.

In the wake of yesterday’s killing of eight in a Texas high school, WaPo’s Philip Bump provides a chilling statistic.

With a third Democrat crossing the aisle to support her, Gina Haspel now has the votes she needs to become the next C.I.A. Director.

Does the administration know what it is doing?

For better or worse, Mike Pompeo will be confirmed as the 70th Secretary of State by the end of this week.

Barbara Bush, only the second woman in history to be the wife and mother of a U.S. President, has died at the age of 92.

The United States can’t do any good in Syria, but we can do a lot of bad.

Without Congressional authorization, any attack on Syria would be illegal, but don’t expect Congress to do anything about it.

President Trump took to Twitter this morning and decided poke a stick in the eye of the Russian bear.

The United States has several options in Syria. None of them are good and one of them would be disastrous.

President Trump is talking about pulling American troops out of Syria, but his own White House is contradicting him.

Fourteen months into his presidency, he has no idea how the federal budget works.

A new report confirms that the White House has indeed required staffers to sign non-disclosure agreements that are clearly not enforceable.

Nine years later, at least one member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee is admitting what seemed at the time a rather obvious fact.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham says war against North Korea would be worth it. Ignoring the fact that it would result in casualties unlike anything America has seen since the Vietnam War.

We form stereotypes about generational cohorts when they’re very young and then freeze them.

Despite the activism we’ve seen in the wake of the school shooting in Florida, it’s unlikely that we’ll see significant Congressional action on guns.

The octogenarian failed to get her party’s endorsement for a sixth term.

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

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

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.

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

One of the oddities of military culture is the constan

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

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

John Kelly continues to throw away the good name he earned in decades of service as a Marine to serve the agenda of President Trump.

Three women who attended Annapolis together are running for seats in Congress.

While everyone is paying attention to the government shutdown, the Trump Administration is preparing for a never-ending, unwise, and unauthorized military commitment in Syria.

POTUS decided to start the New Year by insulting Pakistan over Twitter.

Russia has been barred from participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics after an investigation uncovered extensive evidence of cheating.

Most Americans are unlikely to remember John Anderson, but he was a harbinger of things to come.

The early numbers in the battle to control Congress look good for Democrats, but there are are a number of caveats to keep in mind.

A Los Angeles reporter says that Minnesota Senator Al Franken groped her and engaged in other inappropriate conduct during a 2006 USO tour.

On North Korea, there are two options, deterrence and war. And only one of those options makes sense.

In his time as President, Donald Trump has demonstrated as much contempt for the rule of law as he did as a candidate.

Bowe Bergdahl received a dishonorable discharge and reduction in rank, but will not serve time in prison.

Due mostly to cowardice and naked self-interest, you shouldn’t expect many other Republicans to speak out against Trump in the near future.