Outside the Beltway

If recent history is any guide, there won’t really be a government shutdown next week. But, the zealotry of the “defund Obamacare” caucus could change everything.

Nobody has moved a piece yet, but the outcome of the Obamacare battle in the Senate seems foreordained.

Who should qualify as a “journalist” for purposes of a “Shield Law?”

With Congress coming back Monday, the prospective vote counts are decidedly against authorizing military force against Syria.

Things aren’t looking good for President Obama in the House of Representatives.

President Obama has decided not to enforce a law. This is most unusual and somewhat disturbing.

A proposed Syria authorization being considered in the Senate places several limits on Presidential authority to act, but it’s unclear if those limits can actually work.

Reports of the death of the Voting Rights Act have been greatly exaggerated.

Unfortunately, our immigration debate is just plain dumb.

The president’s 2008 rival has gone from bitter foe to go-to deal broker.

The two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are clashing on defense appropriations.

Time to “pivot to the economy” again.

The 10th anniversary of McCain-Feingold teaches a lesson we should already have learned.

The latest House GOP pronouncements on immigration reform make it exceedingly unlikely that any bill will pass this year.

The Supreme Court’s handling of standing in the two same-sex marriage cases likely seems contradictory to many outside observers.

The Senate passed an immigration reform bill today, but it’s not going to go anywhere.

Rather than asking whether it was “worth it,” the important historical question regarding the Civil War is whether it could have been avoided.

Why did House Republicans vote overwhelmingly for a bill that their own theories would find to be unconstitutional?

John Boehner clearly wants to see an immigration bill passed this year, but he has a very narrow path to victory.

Scott Walker could be the GOP’s surprise candidate in 2016.

The GOP seems to be making the same mistakes that led to defeat in 2012.

Speaker Boehner seems confident that immigration reform will become law this year, but his confidence may be premature.

Marco Rubio is threatening to withdraw support for the immigration plan he helped draft, but I would suggest not reading too much into that threat.

Conflicting provisions in New Jersey law could turn scheduling a Special Election to replace Frank Lautenberg into a big legal battle.

A starting point for two important stories.

It would be nice if columnists for major newspapers would consult political science, rather than Hollywood, for their understanding of our system.

A bipartisan commission of elder statesmen confirms what we’ve known for years.

A new report confirms that the United States did engage in torture in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

The GOP’s decision to filibuster the Senate Gun Control Bill doesn’t make a lot of political sense.

The odds for a party switch in the House of Representatives remain quite low.

The American people no longer seem to care if their political leaders are divorced.

President Obama’s job approval numbers have fallen off from their post-election highs. But, does it matter?

Institutional dynamics in the US constitutional system are the key to undertstanding our current predicament.