Outside the Beltway

A Federal Judge in Washington, D.C. dismissed a lawsuit against Trump “national emergency” to fund the border wall, but his ruling did not reach the merits of the lawsuit’s claim.

The House of Representatives will vote to hold the Attorney General in contempt next week but it may not mean anything.

Thad Cochran, who represented Mississippi in Congress for 45 years, has died at the age of 81.

I continue to be opposed to impeachment of the President, but I’m slowly moving in that direction thanks primary to the Administration’s own actions.

Mitch McConnell has had an unsurprising change of heart on the issue of Senate consideration of Supreme Court nominees in a Presidential election year.

The House of Representatives has not even acted on impeachment, but Senate Republicans have already made up their mind.

Does the House have an obligation to proceed with impeachment?

A Federal Judge has put at least a partial hold on President’s Trump’s effort to use a “national emergency” to fund his border wall.

The House has passed legislation that would extend the protections of the Civil Rights Act to LGBT Americans, but it is probably doomed in the Senate.

In the latest example of the White House’s ongoing effort to block Congress from exercising its duty to investigate the Executive Branch, the White House is blocking the former White House Counsel from testifying before Congress.

Surprising pollsters and political analysts down under, Australia’s ruling center-right coalition pulled off a big win in Saturday’s election.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has informed Congress that he will not comply with a subpoena seeking the President’s tax returns, meaning that we’re headed for a court battle.

Following in the footsteps of Alabama, the Missouri legislature has passed a law that would severely restrict abortion rights in the Show Me State.

We already know enough to impeach.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has entered the race for the Democratic nomination for President, making him the 23rd candidate in an already crowded field.

Right now, polling indicates that the American public is reluctant to support impeachment of the President but it’s possible that could change.

Liz Cheney can pretty much write her own political ticket right now.

The problem is with our politics, not our institutions.

The President is systematically defying Congress. Whatever can be done about that?

Stacey Abrams, best known for losing the race for Governor of Georgia in 2018, is still apparently thinking of getting in the race. Her chances seem slim at best.

Valerie Plame, the former CIA agent whose identity was outed during the Bush Administration, is running for Congress in New Mexico.

As expected, the House Judiciary Committee voted yesterday on party lines to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt for refusing to turn over a full copy of the Mueller Report

In an effort to block the release of the full report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the Trump Administration is invoking Executive Privilege.

The Treasury Secretary is declining to comply with a Congressional request for the President’s tax returns. Whether this is proper is a question that will have to be resolved by the courts.

A seemingly out-of-the-blue political movement is arguing in favor of independent election of Vice-Presidents.

A new poll finds that a small majority of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College, but that’s not nearly enough to make any change in how we elect Presidents possible.

Later this week, the House Judiciary Committee will vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt, but it most likely won’t go anywhere.

More Madisonian musing on the current state of our constitutional order.

The move creates a rare Senate opening in the Equality State, and an opportunity for the daughter of a certain former Vice-President.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other firebrands aren’t steering the ship. Yet.

Robert Mueller objected to the Attorney General’s characterization of the final report he submitted, reports indicate.

200-odd Congressional Democrats are taking an odd route to go after corruption.

In the end, Impeachment is a political act more than a legal one. For that reason, Democrats should not pursue impeachment unless they have a reasonable chance of winning.

Ballot measures across the country would deny access to those who refuse to release tax returns.

President Trump claims that he’d challenge any effort to impeach him in court, but the law makes clear that he can’t.

The House of Representatives is asking a Federal Judge to block the President’s emergency declaration to fund his border wall.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears poised to uphold the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts is the latest Democrat to enter an already crowded field.

In case anyone needs a refresher.

Princeton historian Sean Wilentz lays to rest a pernicious idea propagated by . . . Princeton historian Sean Wilentz.

A reminder that over 3 million citizens have no effective influence over the federal government.

Senate Republicans are pushing for the end of minority obstruction—and the Democrats can’t wait.

Last November the state voted overwhelming to amend its constitution. The lawmakers they elected at the same time are sabotaging it.

The woman famous for losing the Georgia governor’s race is eyeing a bigger job.

President Trump will ask for $8.6 billion for his border wall in his Fiscal Year 2020 budget. He’s unlikely to get it.

It’s been a rough two years under Trump, but America’s institutions are surviving.

More polling evidence that the public does not support Trump’s emergency declaration or his wall.

Republicans are blindly loyal to this President in a way we have not seen before. They are likely to end up paying a price for that.

Last week, the House passed two bills to strengthen the laws regarding background checks for guns, but they’re not likely to even make it to the floor of the Senate.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee is running for the Democratic nomination for President on a platform primarily focused on climate change. Whether that helps distinguish him from a growing field of candidates remains to be seen.