Former House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that Republicans will lose the presidential election if Donald Trump is the nominee and that he expects hard-right followers of Trump to force a government shutdown within days.

A federal judge threw out a Texas law prohibiting "sexually oriented performances" in public or where they may be viewed by children, saying the so-called "drag ban" represented an unconstitutional infringement on free speech.

The Senate is leapfrogging the House with a stopgap spending bill ahead of the Saturday shutdown deadline when government funding expires.

President Joe Biden's dog Commander has bitten another U.S. Secret Service employee.

A senior Pentagon official who earlier worked for Robert Malley, the State Department's special envoy to Iran who had his security clearance suspended earlier this year, is alleged to have been part of a soft-power influence operation created and managed by officials in Tehran.

Republican presidential hopefuls will be in for a treat Wednesday when they gather for their second candidate debate at the spectacular Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The Republican National Committee, however, has issued a fact-based report on the event that offers insight for the hopefuls themselves -- but not much love for the host state.