Outside the Beltway

The House GOP leadership’s principles are a good start, but it’s unclear if they can make it past the anti “amnesty” crowd that seems to dominate the GOP.

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

Republican leaders continue to say stupid things. They may still retake the Senate in November.

Is 435 the right number?

For a year that seemed to start out so well, 2013 has been among the President’s worst of this five years he’s been in office.

In an ordinary post-recession world, we wouldn’t need to talk about extended unemployment benefits, but times are far from ordinary.

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.

The Tea Party hit another new polling low, but that really shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

Time to start talking about lame ducks?

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

Republican hardliners are pushing a position on immigration that is completely out of sync with the nation as a whole.

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

The state where the same-sex marriage battle began is just days away from legalizing same-sex marriage.

Charlie Crist, and his tan, want the Governor’s Mansion back.

The prospect of Congressional action on immigration before the midterms just got a whole lot less likely.

Polling looks bleak for the GOP right now, but it’s unclear what that will mean a year from now.

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

Immigration reform may be the next big battle on Capitol Hill, but it’s going to be far different from the one that just concluded.

John Boehner’s position as Speaker of the House seems quite secure.

The deal emerging out of the talks between Senator Reid and Senator McConnell is about what you’d expect, but it’s probably the best we can expect right now.

A little noticed rule change in the House is arguably one of the main reasons we’re in a government shutdown crisis.

Harry and Mitch to the rescue?

Divided government is the worst political system ever, except for all the others.

It’s a party thing.

Being Speaker of the House has become much more of a difficult job than it used to be.

There’s no denying it now. The GOP is being harmed by the events in Washington far more than the President and Democrats in general.

To borrow a phrase from Stephen Colbert, if you want to understand how Congress works, you better know a District.

The Pentagon is recalling up to 300,000 furloughed civilian employees on the same day that Congress voted to pay all furloughed employees when the government reopens.

The “Hastert Rule” isn’t the reason Speaker Boehner isn’t bringing a “clean” CR up for a vote, political survival is.

The situation we currently find oursevles in is very much driven by structural issues.

The GOP seems perfectly fine with risking a shutdown, even though polling shows they’d pay the biggest price for it.

Republicans don’t seem willing to let go of the Obamacare issue just yet. But, how long will that actually last?

It’s now clear that, absent an unlikely miracle, there will be a government shutdown.

The House will reportedly vote on a new Continuing Resolution with conditions that would seem to make a shutdown inevitable.

Ted Cruz is going after the Speaker of the House.