Outside the Beltway

After four days of hearings, the fate of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court seems assured.

Another “progressive” victory over a longtime Democratic incumbent, but this one is a bit different.

A Federal Judge in Texas has declined to grant a request to bring the DACA program to an end, but its days appear to be numbered unless Congress acts.

For the second time this year, a three-judge panel of Federal Judges has struck down North Carolina’s Congressional District map. The immediate question is what impact, if any, this will have on November’s election.

Senator John McCain has died at the age of 81,

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees has suspended football coach Urban Meyer for three games over his handling of allegations of domestic violence by an Assistant Coach dating back to 2015.

Donald Trump’s vanity-seeking military parade has been postponed amid reports that the estimated cost has increased dramatically.

The head football coach at the University of Maryland has been suspended after reports of a “toxic environment” that led to the death of a student athlete in June.

Another Federal Judge has ruled in favor of a transgender student seeking the right to use the gender that conforms to the gender they identify with.

Another Federal Judge has dealt a legal blow to President Trump’s effort to shut down the DACA program.

A Federal Judge in Oregon has rejected an efforts by a parent’s group to block a school district policy that allows transgender students to use the restroom facilities that conform to their gender identity.

A Federal Judge in Maryland ruled last week that a lawsuit against the President based on a rather obscure provision of the Constitution could go forward.

New York and several other states have filed an incredibly dubious lawsuit against the Republican’s new tax law.

California’s Democratic Party endorsed “progressive” upstart Kevin de León over Senator Dianne Feinstein, but this is unlikely to stop Feinstein from winning election to a sixth term in office.

A selection that is likely to keep the Senate GOP united and red-state Democrats up for re-election under pressure to vote to confirm.

Recent polling finds that Americans aren’t feeling quite so patriotic right now. It’s understandable, but we shouldn’t give up hope.

What was once a rare symbol of national mourning has become so commonplace as to be meaningless.

A man with a grudge against the Annapolis Capital Gazette killed five people in the newsroom.

Convicted leaker Chelsea Manning lost a bid for the Democratic nomination for Senate in Maryland, to the surprise of nobody.

The Supreme Court term began with hopes that the Justices would shake up the redistricting process with rulings against partisan gerrymandering. It has ended with three whimpers.

In a ruling that largely relies on the authority granted by Congress to the President to regulate immigration on national security grounds, the Supreme Court has upheld the final version of the Administration’s travel ban.

The Supreme Court has largely rejected a challenge to state and Federal redistricting maps in the State of Texas.

A Republican organization dedicated to abortion rights is shutting down after 30 years, eight fewer than the Party has opposed them.

In a case that pit the new rules of cyberspace against the old rules about when the Fourth Amendment protects privacy, the Supreme Court ruled today in a way that breathes new life into both privacy and the Fourth Amendment.

Notwithstanding the rhetoric of the President and his supporters, most Americans believe that immigration is a good thing for the United States.

The Supreme Court avoided ruling on the merits of two partisan gerrymandering cases, but the issue will be back before them sooner rather than later.

A 9-0 ruling side-stepped the broader issue of to what extent purely political considerations may be applied.

With two more weeks to go, there are plenty of “big” cases still awaiting the release of a decision.

The Federal Government is signing on to an effort by Texas and several other states to have the DACA program declared unlawful.

Both President Trump and Ivanka Trump are profiting handsomely from their time in the White House.

With one month to go in its term, there’s still a lot on the Supreme Court’s plate.

A Federal Judge in Virginia has handed a significant legal victory to a student who sued their school district because they were barred form using the bathroom of the gender they identify with.

The Supreme Court has declined to accept yet another Second Amendment case for review, continuing a streak that goes back some eight years.

A surprise announcement about the First Lady.

The former Senate Majority Leader had surgery in Maryland after an apparently early diagnosis.

A writer at National Review is proposing a compromise on the issue of transgender rights. Needless to say, many conservatives aren’t very happy about it.

Republicans are trying to fight back against efforts to limit their ability to gerrymander Congressional and State Legislative Districts. It’s a fight they deserve to lose.

Ohio voters have approved a referendum designed to reform the manner in which district lines are drawn.

A small group of Republican rebels in the House are attempting to push legislation protecting DACA beneficiaries to a floor vote. Unfortunately, they’re not likely to succeed.

Eleven states plus DC, who have 172 of the 270 electoral votes needed to elect a President, are now part of the compact.

A new lawsuit seeks to have the 2012 DACA program declared unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court heard oral argument yesterday in a case alleging that Texas’s Congressional and state legislative districts were drawn with the intent to discriminate based on race.

The Trump Administration has suffered another setback in its efforts to repeal DACA.

A Federal Judge has struck down the revised version of the ban on transgender members of the military from serving openly, and the ruling has significance that goes well beyond the issue at hand.

A decryption device called GrayKey is being used by all manner of government agencies.

Mark Zuckerberg’s second day before Congress was somewhat more contentious than the first, but at the end of the day it’s still unclear that more regulation is the answer to the issues raised by recent Facebook “scandals.”

President Trump isn’t reacting well to the raid on his attorney’s office.

Another Federal Court loss for gun rights activists challenging state laws banning “assault weapons.”

News anchors at dozens of local stations owned by conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group were recently required to read a script mandated by corporate headquarters, and it’s leading to some bad media coverage for Sinclair.

A Federal Judge is allowing a lawsuit alleging that President Trump is improperly benefiting from business being done at the hotel in Washington, D.C. bearing his name to go forward.