Outside the Beltway

The votes are in. And the outcome is meaningless.

Mitch McConnell’s hopes to become Senate Majority Leader could hinge on what happens in his own state and in Georgia.

Former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie is challenging incumbent Senator Mark Warner for his Senate seat.

Is 435 the right number?

“Reality” TV star says something dumb about gay people, gets suspended, usual pointless outrage ensues.

Time to start talking about lame ducks?

The 7 seats most likely to switch parties are held by Democrats.

Who knew?

Daylight Savings Time ends early on Sunday. Perhaps it should never return.

Will the GOP learn the right lessons from the just-concluded showdown? That remains to be seen.

Nearly two-thirds of House Republicans voted for default. They lost.

Much like the Tea Party, David Frum wants to make the GOP tent smaller.

Are these four men our last, best hope for a deal that will end the shutdown and avoid breaching the debt ceiling?

Conservatives gathered on the National Mall today to protest the closure of memorials, but their message seems really intended for Republicans in Congress to not back down.

The GOP’s approval numbers have fallen like a stone, but it’s unclear whether this will matter in 2014.

Some thoughts on reform.

Until this year, being gay could get you kicked out of the military. Now, it comes with perks.

The Pentagon is considering doing away with two combatant commands—and no longer calling them combatant commands.

Lindy Boggs, the Louisiana Congresswoman best known to many of us as Cookie Roberts’ mom, has died at the ripe old age of 97.

The GOP’s chances to take over the Senate became much better over the weekend.

Sarah Palin hinted about running for Senate in Alaska. Most likely, she’s once again just teasing her supporters.

An empty threat.

The Supreme Court today struck down the most controversial part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Marco Rubio has suffered a reversal of fortune among Republicans thanks to his role in the immigration reform debate.

A new theory circulating on the right asserts that IRS targeting of Tea Party groups had an impact on the 2012 elections by diminish the Tea Party’s effectiveness. It’s mostly nonsense.

Is someone who’s only be a Senator for just over 100 days a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2016?

Several Senators who voted against the Manchin/Toomey background checks bill have suffered in the polls, but it’s unclear if that matters in the long run.

The days of tax-free online shopping are coming to an end.

The prospects for gun control appear to be dimming.

Illegal aliens will henceforth be be called, well, something.

So what, exactly, is going on in North Korea? And how should we respond to Kim’s bluster?

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul won a completely meaningless straw poll.

Chuck Hagel will be confirmed, but the campaign against him tells us much about the current state of Republican foreign policy