Outside the Beltway

Late last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals became the fifth Federal Court to rule against the Trump Administration’s efforts to repeal DACA.

There’s a new church/state separation case on the Supreme Court’s docket.

Donald Trump’s lies became even more frequent during the recently-concluded campaign season.

As expected, the midterm elections ended up being a split result that gives Democrats and Republicans alike reason to celebrate.

The 2018 midterms were mostly about Donald Trump. The results were idiosyncratic.

The Party of Donald Trump has left no sane choice but to vote straight Democrat.

For better or worse, here are my projections for the midterm elections.

Anti-Semitic violence has increased markedly over the past two years. So has the spread of far-right “anti-Globalist” conspiracy theories. This is not a coincidence.

Jobs Growth in October exceeded expectations, as did wage growth. It’s unclear, though, how long these numbers can be sustained.

Surely a celebrity hound with no political experience can’t become President. Right?

With one week to go before Election Day, Democrats seem well-positioned to gain control of the House while Republicans seem likely to hold on to the Senate.

In the wake of attempted bombing attacks on people he has criticized, the President is blaming the media for poisonous political rhetoric. He needs to look in the mirror.

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

Bernie Sanders could find repeating the success of 2016 in 2020 may not be so easy.

Those rambling campaign rally speeches the President loves to give aren’t getting the kind of coverage they used to, not even from his favorite news channel.

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

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints wants to be referred to by its given name. Shouldn’t we respect that wish?

The Trump Administration’s war on so-called “Sanctuary Cities” suffers yet another defeat in Court.

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

Math rules.

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

Debunking a theory for why the Kavanaugh nomination was supposedly “rushed.”

A Supreme Court first by the newest Justice.

With four weeks to go until Election Day, Donald Trump and the Republicans are continuing to stoke the divisions laid bare by the Kavanaugh nomination.

Is political satire even possible in the age of Trump?

The Merrick Garland precedent is power politics, nothing more.

Fifty years ago, a young college student who would become one of the most influential women in Washington was sexually assaulted by a Senator. She didn’t come forward with her story for more than fifty years, and the reasons why strike close to what we’ve been talking about for three weeks now.

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.

The Kavanaugh fight is just another indicator of our national divide.

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.

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.

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.

In a 2015 speech, he told law students that it’s vital for judges “To keep our emotions in check. To be calm amidst the storm.”

For the second time in two years, the Supreme Court starts a new term down one Justice. That isn’t as big a problem as it might seem.

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.

By popular demand . . .

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

A telling contrast of two Georgetown Prep schoolmates.

I’ve changed my mind on a couple of things and hardened my opinion on others.

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.