Outside the Beltway

Despite his remarks about John McCain, Donald Trump is likely to be around for some time to come.

Rand Paul’s Presidential campaign isn’t going so well at the moment.

In the end, the odds that Congress can actually stop the new deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program are pretty low.

Donald Trump has gotten almost nothing but negative press since entering the race for President, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting him very much just yet.

In the wake of the latest Supreme Court decision, the Affordable Care Act seems to have become even more firmly established than it was before last week, and the prospect of repeal has become even less likely.

The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the way the death penalty is administered, dealing a serious blow to opponents of the death penalty.

In an ordinary year, Ohio Governor John Kasich seems like he’d be a perfect candidate for Republicans in an era when winning the Buckeye State is essential to winning the White House. But things are far from ordinary in the GOP.

There’s a lot of pandering and outright nonsense in the wake of the Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage.

The reaction of many of the GOP candidates to the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges is about what you’d expect, but there are a few interesting surprises.

The US Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Constitution contains a right to same-sex marriage.

Pete Rose’s efforts at rehabilitation may have just been fatally injured.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal enters the Presidential race today, but it’s hard to see how he even manages to become a plausible candidate.

Virginia Republicans are deciding later this week how they will make their choice in the 2016 Presidential Race. And they may end up regretting their decision.

With notable exceptions, most of the Republican candidates for President are refusing to take a stand on the propriety of South Carolina flying the Confederate Flag. That’s called cowardice.

Pope Francis’s new encyclical isn’t exactly being received positively by American conservatives, because they seem to be missing the point.

A Judge in Cleveland has found that there is probable cause to charge a Cleveland Police Officer with murder in the death of Tamir Rice, but that is hardly the end of the matter.

Even with a recent negative downturn in the polls, the reports of Hillary Clinton’s impending political demise are largely wishful thinking on the part of conservatives.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker isn’t officially a candidate for President yet, but he’s doing quite well in Iowa anyway.

Many provisions of the Patriot Act lapsed at midnight, but apparently the world hasn’t ended.

The race for the Republican nomination is as tight as ever, and so far nobody seems to be emerging as a clear front-runner.

A Cleveland police officer has been acquitted of manslaughter and other charges in a case that resulted in the death of two African-American individuals.

A new Gallup poll puts support for same-sex marriage above 60% for the first time ever.

Hillary Clinton is a deeply flawed candidate who might not even make a very good President. But that doesn’t matter in the race for the Democratic Nomination, and she’s probably going to be the next President anyway.

With 14 candidates vying for the Republican nomination, TV execs are scrambling to make the debates watchable.

The Republican debate stage in 2016 is going to be even more crowded than it was in 2012.

As expected, the Republican-controlled House passed a bill that would ban most abortions after twenty weeks. It also happens to be completely unconstitutional and has no chance of actually becoming law.

Not surprisingly, the House Committee re-investigating the Benghazi attack seems more concerned with scoring political points than fact-finding.

Once again, only six or seven states are likely to matter.

Two Republican candidates for President say that Republican elected officials should simply ignore the Supreme Court if it strikes down bans on same-sex marriage.

Some people in the media can’t seem to get it through their heads that speech they consider hateful is entitled to as much protection as speech that they support.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are talking about fundamentally changing what it means to be an American, and it’s a bad idea.

Tomorrow promises to be an historic day at the Supreme Court, but it’s been a long legal, political, and social battle.

Not surprisingly, the Select Committee established by House Republicans to investigate something that has already been investigated multiple times, will be in operation well into the Presidential Election season.

In a 6-3 vote that defied traditional expectations, the Justices have limited the ability of police to detain people on the side of the road for long periods of time.

The scandal that will make everyone forget about Benghazi.

Like nearly all of his fellow Republicans, Jeb Bush has adopted the disastrous foreign policy views that typified his brother’s Presidency.

The Iranian nuclear accords are barely 24 hours old and some people have already made up their mind about them.

Some Republicans are trying to move their party in the right direction on marriage equality, but it’s unclear if they will succeed in the short term.

The Justice Department will not pursue contempt charges against Lois Lerner because it has determined that she did not waive her rights under the Fifth Amendment.

Oregon has become the first state in the nation to adopt universal automatic voter registration.

Another tone deaf action from leading Republicans.

As expected, Republicans have caved in the showdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Another lesson in incompetence in governing from House Republicans.