The pundits predict the presidential election will be close. So should people prepare for contingencies?There’s truly only one contingency for this scenario. It’s called a contingent election.What’s that?Don’t feel badly if you’ve never heard of a contingent election. The term is not even mentioned in the Constitution.

House Republicans’ plan to avert a partial government shutdown and crack down on election security surpassed a key hurdle Monday evening, though it’s headed for an uncertain fate in a chamber-wide vote this week.Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is aiming to pass legislation combining a six-month extension of fiscal year 2024’s federal funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), and a House GOP bill to mandate proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.

Foreign Affairs Chairman Rep. Mike McCaul said he still intends to haul in Antony Blinken on the Afghanistan withdrawal even after his sprawling report was completed, and will hold him in contempt of Congress if he does not comply. “This was a catastrophic failure of epic proportions,” the Texas Republican told reporters on Monday. “This is a disgrace. I will hold him in contempt if that’s what it takes to bring him before the American people.

House GOP leaders’ plan to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of this month could be derailed by mounting opposition from fiscal hawks within their own party.Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rolled out legislation late last week to extend the current year’s government funding levels through March via a continuing resolution (CR) to give congressional negotiators more time to work out the next fiscal year’s spending priorities.

The White House pushed back on a report released Sunday by Republican lawmakers criticizing President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, calling the report partisan and offering “little or nothing new.”Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, the Republican chair of the committee, released a GOP-led report disputing Biden’s claims that his hands were tied to the agreement former President Trump had made with the Taliban establishing a deadline for U.S.