Outside the Beltway

Yesterday, Paul Ryan spoke out against the procedure under which the new budget deal was negotiated. Today, he announced that he’ll vote for it anyway.

Compromise is simply necessary for the country to function.

Paul Ryan is blasting the process that led to the new budget deal between the GOP and the White House, but one suspects he’s secretly quite pleased with the fact that it makes his job-to-be a lot easier.

Congress and the White House have reached a tentative deal on the budget and debt ceiling that promises to make Paul Ryan’s initial months as Speaker a lot easier.

With the voting now seemingly a mere formality, the question becomes what kind of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will become.

With the top conservative caucus in Congress acquiescing to his candidacy, Paul Ryan is largely certain to become the next Speaker of the House.

Paul Ryan is getting pressure from all sides to get into the race for Speaker Of The House.

While a brilliant and accomplished man, he’s absolutely clueless about politics and world affairs.

Yes, Ben Carson’s comments about the debt ceiling are silly, but it’s the fact that a lot of Republicans agree with him that’s dangerous.

Big news out of Washington, D.C.

The latest effort by conservative Republicans to oust John Boehner appears to be coming to an unsurprising end.

Speaker John Boehner seems likely to see another leadership threat from fellow Republicans this fall.

Another poll confirms the fact that Americans of all political stripes continue to hold Congress is disdain.

The Senate returns tomorrow to try to pass an extension of the PATRIOT Act before it expires, but it may not be able to do so.

A theme that just won’t go away.

By a wide margin Americans think it was wrong of the GOP to invite Israel’s Prime Minister to speak to Congress.

Post-election polling shows that the majority of Americans want the new GOP majority in Congress to work together with the President. Republican voters have a very different view.

The GOP added to its majority in the House, giving it the biggest majority it has had since Truman was President.

If Republicans win the Senate, what we’ve seen for the past three years could end up seeming tame by comparison.

For a party that says its not interested in impeachment, the GOP sure keeps bringing it up.

The current immigration debate is yet another great example of how our system works (so to speak).

A piece at Foreign Policy provides a chance to give some thought to institutions.

Republican overreach could end up helping the President and his party.

Chris McDaniel and his Tea Party supporters are being very sore losers.

The people with the biggest voices in the GOP seem to be leading it to positions that most Americans disagree with.

A new job for the Congressman recently filed by his own constituents?

An unknown Tea Party candidate unexpectedly beat the House Leader in today’s GOP primary.

Boehner ready to pack it in?

The Tea Party challenge to Mitch McConnell has not exactly gone as planned.

It might not be pretty.

Purity for profit on display.

Once again, the Tea Party wing of the GOP is talking about taking out John Boehner.

Refusing to raise the debt ceiling does nothing at all to control spending.

Don’t expect much out of Congress for the rest of 2014, or for the two years after that either.

Big news out of the House of Representatives

The President’s sixth State Of The Union Address was fairly low-key.

There are some signs that there may be room to strike a deal on the extension of unemployment benefits, but it’s likely to require some drama on Capitol Hill before it happens.

Ted Cruz continues to act as if he hasn’t learned his lessons from the shutdown debacle

So far at least, the 2014 elections do not appear likely to be a political earthquake on the scale of 2006, 2008, or 2010.

Last night, Speaker John Boehner showed that he can beat the Tea Party wing of the Caucus he heads. That has important consequences for the future.

Gun control has faded as a political issue as the memory of Newtown has faded, and that was entirely predictable.

A budget deal has been reached, now it has to get through both Chambers of Congress.

The Generic Congressional Ballot has shifted again, but how long will this trend last?

The GOP seems to be shifting strategy on the Affordable Care Act.

Are we headed for another Federal Government shutdown, or will Congress actually do its job this time?