Outside the Beltway

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.

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

As expected. California Senator Kamala Harris has entered the race for President.

A Chicago police officer convicted of second-degree murder has been sentenced to seven years in prison, but could be out in as little as three-and-a-half.

The confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee for Attorney General appeared to go very well, making confirmation essentially a certainty.

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

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.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden will reportedly decide on whether or not he’ll be entering the race for President in the near future.

Former Senator and Denocratic Presidential candidate Jim Webb is reportedly being considered for Defense Secretary.

As 2018 draws to a close, there’s no sign that the government shutdown will end any time soon.

California is set up throw a huge curve ball into the 2020 Presidential nomination fight.

Faced with the prospect of a large field like the one Republicans had in 2016, Democrats are trying to figure out how to handle debates. So far, the ideas being put forward are as bad as what the GOP ended up doing.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed major reforms in Federal sentencing and related laws. As the name of the bill implies, it’s a first step, but a good first step.

Trump has selected current Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to replace John Kelly as Chief of Staff, but that’s unlikely to change how the West Wing operates.

Nancy Pelosi is apparently close to a deal with dissident Democrats that will keep her in power until at least 2022.

Later this week, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could rewrite decades of law interpreting the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy rule.

Is Donald Trump thinking about dumping Mike Pence in 2020? Probably not, but that’s not going to stop the speculation.

President Trump’s trade war with China is leading car manufacturers to shift production from the U.S. to China.

America’s tradition of unlimited free expression increases the danger of violence.

Bernie Sanders could find repeating the success of 2016 in 2020 may not be so easy.

President Trump is choosing money and moral cowardice over human life in his response to the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

For the second time this year, a Federal Court has struck down a state law designed to punish businesses that engage in a boycott aimed at Israel.

BREAKING NEWS from multiple major news outlets.

With four weeks to go until Election Day, Donald Trump and the Republicans are continuing to stoke the divisions laid bare by the Kavanaugh nomination.

Nearly four years after the fact, a Chicago Police Officer has been found guilty of murder in the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

September jobs growth fell short of expectations even as the top-line unemployment rate reached a point unseen since 1969.

After eight hours of testimony, the only impression a non-partisan mind could be left with from the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh is that we need a full investigation of the charges against the Supreme Court nominee. Unfortunately, we’re not going to get that.

President Trump is apparently a Hurricane Maria Truther.

As Hurricane Florence bears down on the East Coast, most people are listening to orders to evacuate, but some people aren’t.

The tough guy actor best known for the “Smokey And The Bandit” movies has passed away at the age of 82.

Donald Trump spent part of Labor Day engaged in yet another unhinged attack on his own Justice Department.

A group of lawsuits filed across the country are seeking to challenge the predominant method for allocation of Electoral College votes. These lawsuits appear to have little merit.

The first night of games in the N.F.L. pre-season included some sporadic protests during the National Anthem, and prompted a predictable response from the President.

The Republican Party’s nominee for Senator in Virginia really is as bad as you’ve heard, probably worse.

A Special Election tomorrow in suburban Columbus, Ohio could tell us a lot about where the midterm elections might be headed.

The President is apparently getting ready to take yet another ill-advised step in his ill-advised, economically illiterate trade war.

The midterm elections are still four months away, but Democrats are already making moves to prepare for the race for their party’s Presidential nomination in 2020.

Forget the “republic v. a democracy” abstraction. The numbers show some serious flaws in translating popular will into government.

Next term, the Justices will revisit the issue of whether someone can be tried in state and Federal Court for the same crime for the first time in nearly sixty years.

Another incident involving what clearly seems to be the inappropriate use of force against an African-American man.

The GOP and Donald Trump are indistinguishable now. But it’s not clear what that means.

GOP primary voters continue to reward staunch supporters of the President and punish those who get on his bad side.

His criticism of President Trump appears to have been a key reason.

According to reports, President Trump is preparing to go to war against luxury German cars.

Earlier this week, the Illinois legislature ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. What’s unclear is if this act has any meaning at all.

In an early morning Tweetstorm, President Trump said he would not have hired Jeff Sessions if he knew he’d recuse himself from the Russia investigation.

With a third Democrat crossing the aisle to support her, Gina Haspel now has the votes she needs to become the next C.I.A. Director.

Quietly, Mike Pence is seeking to create his own power base inside the GOP even as the White House pushes back.

When it comes to the Trump White House, the fish rots from the head down.