Outside the Beltway

John McCain continues to bravely battle an aggressive form of brain cancer, but he’s already made clear that he doesn’t want the 45th President of the United States at his funeral.

They hired Israeli Private Investigators to dig up dirt on former Obama officials, including Ben Rhodes and Colin Kahl.

To paraphrase the late Dennis Green, he is who we thought he was. 

It’s been 441 days since Donald Trump held a full-fledged Presidential press conference. Does anyone care?

Israeli Prime Minister gave a speech yesterday designed to undermine the nuclear deal with Iran. The evidence was unconvincing, but the speech was really only aimed at an audience of one.

Republicans are worried about 2018, and they’re even more worried that they have a President who is refusing to acknowledge political reality.

The United States is apparently looking to Libya as a guide for upcoming talks with North Korea. The DPRK most likely sees the fate of that nation and its leader as a warning.

Ronny Jackson did not invent the practice of giving Ambien and Provigil to high-level government workers.

The White House is pushing back on the allegations of misconduct that were made against Ronny Jackson this week, and trying to use them in a high-profile Senate race in Montana.

Not surprisingly, Mike Pompeo was confirmed as America’s 70th Secretary of State today. Now, the hard work begins.

With the accusations mounting, the nomination of Ronny Jackson to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs is becoming more and more imperiled.

French President Emmanuel Macron is in the U.S. hoping to lobby President Trump to keep the United States in the nuclear deal with Iran. He’s got his work cut out for him.

Republicans are planning on pushing judicial nominees through the Senate in case they lose control in November. Meanwhile, the possibility of a Supreme Court vacancy raises the stakes.

With just over six months to go before the 2018 elections, the storm clouds are starting to gather for the Republican Party.

Cuba has a new President and he isn’t named Castro, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to see significant change in the near future.

The campaign-agnostic political science models predicted a toss-up in 2016 and again in 2020.

Unable to get his way with the legislature, New York’s governor is taking a provocative step.

Whoops.

In the wake of the latest attack on Syria, some of the President’s strongest supporters seem shocked to discover that the unprincipled egomaniac they supported is, in fact, an unprincipled egomaniac.

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

Hang on, the ride on the Trump Train is about to get a lot bumpier.

Even the United Nations has given up trying to maintain an accurate estimate.

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

President Trump isn’t reacting well to the raid on his attorney’s office.

Republicans are raising the fear of impeachment to motivate a base that could become disaffected heading into November.

Governor Rick Scott has entered the race to challenge Bill Nelson in Florida, creating what is likely to be one of the most closely watched races of the year.

Dan Drezner notes some challenges on this topic, and I add some of my own thoughts.

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

President Trump seems intent on walking away from the nuclear deal with Iran. If he does, he’ll be handing a gift to Iran and harming American national interests significantly.

The woman who lost the 2016 election is apparently not going to go away.

Joe Arpaio is saying he might reopen his “investigation” into former President Obama’s birthplace if he’s elected Senator.

Mitt Romney staked out a position on DACA that is to the right of the President, and to the right of a majority of Utah voters.

Critics warn this move would lead to a drastic undercount of Hispanic voters, impacting Congressional districting, federal programs, and more.

Not surprisingly, John Bolton has some links to particularly shady people on the right.

The Department Of Justice is proposing a rule change that would ban bump stocks, but it could run into legal problems.

The incoming National Security Advisor reportedly wants to purge those who aren’t sycophants.

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

President Trump continues to obsequiously praise Russian President Vladimir Putin

The network’s longtime “strategic analyst” is “ashamed” of his association because they’ve become a “propaganda machine.”

Will Bunch wildly exaggerates the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Lawfare provides a balanced piece on the firing of Andrew McCabe.

Republicans are claiming that Conor Lamb won Tuesday’s Special Election in Pennsylvania because he campaigned as a conservative. These people are either deluded or lying.

Polls released since the Parkland, Florida shooting show that support for gun control measures is at its highest level since 1993, but will it last?

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

The Judge presiding over the lawsuit brought by a group of Twitter users blocked by President Trump may have sent a hint about how she’s inclined to rule during a hearing this week.

A better than expected jobs report for February, but wage growth slowed for the month.

Netflix no longer offers President Frank Underwood. They’re lining up a replacement.

North Korea’s Dear Leader has baited the President of the United States into a trap.

POLITICO buries the lede in making the case for “Donald Trump’s bubble presidency.”

The President jokingly praised his Chinese counterpart’s power grab at a fundraiser. But he seriously doesn’t understand the rule of law.