Outside the Beltway

Wherein I explore the notion that ignorance is bliss.

Republicans nationwide are trying to discourage Roy Moore from running for Senate again. Roy Moore doesn’t care.

Kamala Harris is trying to jump-start her Presidential campaign with an idea for a new law, but it’s probably unconstitutional and would never get through Congress.

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

Hypocritical? Sure. Surprising? No.

Some reports are saying that Roy Moore will run for the GOP nomination for Senate again in 2020.

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

The President unveiled some incoherent ideas yesterday that have no chance of becoming law.

An absurd theory for an absurd time.

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

The problem is with our politics, not our institutions.

Other than confirming a lot of Trump Judges, the Senate has not been getting much work done so far this year.

There are several months to go before a budget must be passed but there are already signs that the White House and Congress could be headed for an impasse.

The President’s eldest son has been subpoenaed to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding Trump campaign contacts with Russia.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared “case closed” on the Mueller Report and the Russia investigation. This is far from the truth.

If the economy remains strong, then Democrats could find it harder to beat the President than they thought.

The former Kentucky coal executive, Republican fundraiser, and Ambassador to Canada would replace Nikki Haley in what used to be a position dominated by more experienced diplomats.

Six Democrats are boycotting on principle. Four Republicans don’t care.

In some expert trolling, the Senate Majority Leader decries “mindless, undiscriminating obstruction for the sake of obstruction.”

The White House clearly doesn’t have a plan beyond attacking Obamacare to score political points.

David Gergen lives in a fantasy world.

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

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.

A novel proposal for making SCOTUS appointments more responsive to election outcomes.

The Senate yesterday confirmed a 37-year-old to a lifetime Court of Appeals seat.

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.

Republicans face a choice in the coming days. Do they support the Constitution, or do they support Donald Trump? You can count on them making the wrong choice.

While not subject to filibuster, it’s still subject to Presidential veto.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not be running for Senate despite urging from Republicans in Washington and back in Kansas,

Some thoughts on the current mess.

Supreme Court watcher Jeffrey Toobin speculates that Clarence Thomas could be the next Supreme Court Justice to step aside.

President Trump’s impending decision to declare a national emergency to get funding for his border wall will quickly face serious legal challenges. It may be more vulnerable than the White House suspects.

The President will sign the bill to fund the government and avert another government shutdown, but in doing so he’ll also lay the groundwork for another showdown with Congress.

President Trump now appears to accept the compromise worked out by Congress to avoid another shutdown even though he’s not pleased with it.

Congressional negotiators have reportedly reached a budget deal, but it’s not clear if the President will agree to it.

Congress appears to be near a deal on border security and government funding, but it’s unclear if the President will be on board.

In his business career Donald Trump relied largely on fear and intimidation to get his way on business deals. As President, he’s finding that nobody is afraid of him.

Lindsey Graham is telling his fellow Republicans that they better back the President if he decides to declare a national emergency to get funding for his border wall.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned the President against using a national emergency to fund his border wall.

His critique is rather telling.

The White House isn’t ruling out the idea of a second government shutdown, but Senate Republicans have other ideas.

Is the settlement of the government shutdown just delaying the inevitable?

In a deal that can only be described as a cave by the President, the government shutdown is on course to be ended by the end of the day today.

As the shutdown enters day thirty-five, there are some signs of movement in Washington but no real progress.

As the shutdown enters its thirty-fourth day and the Senate gets ready to vote on proposals that have no chance of succeeding, Democrats are preparing a new proposal.

The Senate has the ball this week in terms of action on the government shutdown, but its work is going to end up being utterly pointless.

Not surprisingly, the President’s proposed shutdown deal is not being received well by Democrats on Capitol Hill.

The initial reaction to President Trump’s proposal to reopen the government is not going over well on either side of the aisle.

President Trump put an offer on the table to end the shutdown, the question is whether it will actually lead anywhere.

Is Trump about to make an offer (plus the SOTU letter may have helped).