Outside the Beltway

A new poll suggests that Republicans would get the blame if Congress fails to pass a bill to protect DACA beneficiaries.

The tragedy in Florida last week revealed once again how hyperpartisanship is destroying our politics and harming the country.

The prospect for a fix to help DACA beneficiaries is looking gloomier than ever.

Another Federal Judge has placed a hold on President Trump’s order to end DACA.

Republicans spent the eight years of Obama Administration railing against fiscal irresponsibility. Now that they have power, they’re the ones being fiscally irresponsible.

Friday’s eight-hour shutdown was not the non-event it seemed from the outside.

WaPo is overhyping things a bit.

While most of America slept, the government was shutdown thanks to some faux theatrics by a single Senator.

Congress seems likely to pass a budget deal today that will massively increase spending, putting to rest once and for all the rank hypocrisy of Republicans when it comes to claims that they are “fiscally conservative.”

Last week, the President was calling for national unity. This week, he called political opponents “treasonous.”

Congress appears to be moving closer to a budget deal even as the President tries to throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing.

A new poll indicates that most Americans support a DACA deal, but don’t think it should be linked to measures to avoid a government shutdown.

Congress seems no closer to a DACA deal than they were in January.

After an extended break for the Republican retreat, Congress heads back to work today with just three days before a possible government shutdown.

My latest for The National Interest takes a contrarian view on the new National Defense Strategy.

The current budget deal expires in six days and Congress doesn’t seem to know what it’s going to do about it.

In addition to deadlines on the Federal Budget and DACA, Congress also has to deal with the debt ceiling at some point in the next month.

The White House’s immigration plan is facing opposition in both chambers of Congress from moderate and conservative Republicans alike.

The prospects for a deal in Congress on DACA are starting to look grim.

Democratic norms are eroding.

Less than a day after the President appeared to make a major concession regarding DACA, the White House has thrown a monkey wrench into the whole process.

Democrats in the Senate appear ready to de-link DACA from the budget. That would remove the threat of a government shutdown, but it could anger their base.

Getting to a DACA deal isn’t going to be easy.

My latest for The National Interest has posted.

The deal that led to the end of the Federal Government shutdown isn’t sitting well with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

While final votes remain to be taken, the Federal Government shutdown effectively ended this afternoon with an overwhelming bipartisan vote to reopen the government, combined with a commitment from Republicans to consider a DACA bill over the next three weeks. What happens next, though, is entirely uncertain.

As the Federal Government shutdown moves into the work week, there are some rumors of a possible deal, but nothing concrete and the lack of trust between the two parties could make a deal hard to achieve.

President Trump called on Senate Republicans to eliminate the legislative filibuster to resolve the government shutdown. That’s not going to happen.

It’s Day Two of the Federal Government shutdown and there are few signs of a quick resolution.

The government is shut down and Washington is playing the usual blame game. In reality, there’s plenty of blame to go around, and one of the guilty parties is the American people.

Both #TrumpShutdown and #SchumerShutdown put the blame in the wrong place.

One year after his Inauguration, Donald Trump is the most unpopular new President since the invention of modern polling. However, his numbers are generally the same that they’ve been for some time now.

With just hours to go, it seems increasingly unlikely that the Senate can reach a deal to keep the government open.

With less than two days to go, the prospects for Congress finding a way to prevent a government shutdown aren’t looking good.

With only days to go, Congress seems unable to come up with either a funding deal for the Federal Government or a solution to the DACA issue.

Donald Trump’s Jerusalem decision reveals yet again that he is an appallingly bad deal maker.

The current temporary spending measure reached by Congress in September expires on Friday, and Republicans haven’t come up with a solution yet.

With time running out in the year, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that the Senate GOP will be able to meet its deadlines on passing a tax reform bill.

It’s been two years since John Boehner stepped down as Speaker, and he’s got a few things to say about his former colleagues and the state of American politics.

At least for now, Republicans seem to be giving up on repealing and replacing the PPACA. That’s not going to make the base happy.

Former Trump aide Steve Bannon is declaring war on Republicans in the Senate.

Catalonia’s independence referendum is one day away, and nobody seems to know what to expect.

Kurds in Iraq voted overwhelmingly for independence in a non-binding referendum, and the result is threatening to create a new conflict in the Middle East.

Winning was easy.  Legislating is hard.

Donald Trump is threatening to shut the government down if Congress doesn’t pay for the wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for.

They may both be Republicans, but the relationship between the President and the Senate Majority Leader is bad and seems to be getting worse.

A new poll shows that most Americans want Republicans want to move on from their failed effort to ‘repeal and replace’ the Affordable Care Act.

Seven years of rhetoric on health care reform ended early this morning with a narrow vote on a bill that even Republicans didn’t really support.