Outside the Beltway

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.

The government shutdown is beginning to negatively impact the public’s perception of the health of the economy.

Two years into his Presidency, Donald Trump continues to set the wrong kind of records.

President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet again in February, but it’s hard to see why.

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

Could Maryland Governor Larry Hogan be just the kind of Republican to challenge Trump in 2020?

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).

With Democrats making a new proposal and the President set to speak later today, there could be movement on ending the government shutdown. I wouldn’t be too optimistic, though.

Instead of staying in Washington, Congress should go on recess so Members of Congress and Senators can hear from the people how the shutdown is impacting them.

New polling seems to indicate that President Trump is losing support among an important part of his base.

The efforts by Speaker Pelosi and President Trump to leverage their institutional powers raise interesting questions.

As the government shutdown continues, Washington is coming to resemble a fight between toddlers. Except the toddlers have the excuse of not knowing any better.

President Trump responded to the suggestion that the State of the Union be rescheduled by revoking military transportation for a Congressional trip to visit troops in Afghanistan.

Despite their rhetoric, Republicans in Congress have shown through their own inaction that they don’t really support the President’s border wall.

As the shutdown continues the numbers get worse for the President, but he doesn’t seem to care.

Nancy Pelosi is “suggesting” to the President that the State of the Union be rescheduled for a time after the government shutdown ends, but it clearly seems like more than just a suggestion.

The Speaker is well within her rights to make Trump’s invitation conditional on ending the shutdown. But let’s not pretend we can’t keep him safe.

As the shutdown drags on, it’s beginning to have an impact on the economy.

Theresa May’s Brexit deal suffered the worst defeat in the modern history of the British Parliament, and nobody is sure what happens next.

After twenty-five days, there’s no end in sight to the Federal Government shutdown. You can thank the President for that.

As the shutdown goes on, the polls are getting worse for the President.

As the government shutdown enters through its twenty-fourth day, attention is shifting to Senate Republicans who could be pressured to break ranks and potentially force a resolution.

Don’t expect the Congress (i.e., the Senate) to pull us out of this shutdown mess.

Border states/districts are not as pro-wall as presidential rhetoric might make you think.

The numbers aren’t good for Trump.

If you’re looking for the biggest obstacle to a resolution to the government shutdown, look no further than President Donald J. Trump.

President Trump appears to be backing away from the idea of declaring a national emergency to get his wall built. But the other options he’s considering aren’t much better.

Federal employees deemed “essential” missed a paycheck yesterday in violation of US labor law.

California Senator Kamala Harris is set to enter the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination later this month.

The government shutdown has now entered historic territory, and the Trump Administration is moving closer to a “national emergency” or other extra-legal means to get money for his wall.

President Trump is claiming he never said Mexico would directly pay for the wall, except for all those times when he said Mexico would directly pay for the wall.

Iowa’s Steve King has long expressed anti-immigrant and racist views, now he’s asking why that’s a bad thing.

President Trump stormed out of a meeting with Congressional leaders as the shutdown drags on with no end in sight.

New polling clearly indicates that the President is losing the battle for public opinion over the government shutdown.

President Trump’s speech on the border wall and the shutdown was fact-free, misleading, and overall a bomb.

As the shutdown drags on, Republicans are beginning to fear that members in the House and Senate may begin to fall away from supporting the President.

President Trump is claiming that he could use authority to declare a “national emergency” to build his wall even if Congress doesn’t authorize it.

President Trump is offering to change his ‘concrete wall’ with a ‘steel barrier’ in what he apparently things is a compromise.

President Trump is making clear that he doesn’t care how his shutdown is impacting Federal workers.

As the shutdown continues, there’s little sign of progress on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Terrorists aren’t walking across the desert to get here. Flying is so much easier.

As the shutdown drags on, the President is digging in his heels even further.

As the shutdown drags on, Mitch McConnell finds himself facing pressure from the White House and from members of his own caucus.

December’s Jobs Report blew past expectations to show more than 300,000 jobs created.

In a late first-day session, Congress passed a series of bills designed to reopen most of the government, but they’re already ‘dead on arrival’ in the Senate.

Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of The House again after eight years out of power, but there’s little time for her to celebrate.

With Democrats set to take control of Congress today, a resolution to the shutdown doesn’t appear to be any closer.

The longer the shutdown goes on, the wider its impact is likely to become.