CNN – US Politics

By Sydney Kashiwagi, CNN (CNN) — As Republican lawmakers have pushed restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care in recent months, Democratic-led states have increasingly responded by passing so-called shield laws to protect people who undergo such care against the possibility they could one day face prosecution. Nearly a dozen states – including Washington state, Colorado,

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — A yearslong court civil suit involving sexual assault allegations against former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten has been settled for $975,000, according to court records. The sum will be paid out by the US government to Col. Kathryn Spletstoser, who alleged sexual assault

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Senior Supreme Court Analyst Bloomington, Minnesota (CNN) — As Justice Brett Kavanaugh described the operations of the current Supreme Court on Thursday, he lauded it as “government at its finest.” He latched onto the phrase as he appeared in suburban Minneapolis before a group of federal judges from the midwest, the

By Lauren Fox, Clare Foran, Melanie Zanona, Haley Talbot and Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — The House voted Thursday evening to adopt several controversial amendments pushed by conservative hardliners to a critical national defense bill as the fate of the must-pass legislation hangs in the balance. Passage of the amendments – which touch on hot-button

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden on Thursday said he is “serious” about a prisoner exchange to free wrongfully detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich from Russia. “I’m serious about a prisoner exchange. I’m serious about doing what we can to free Americans who are being illegally held in Russia or

By Melanie Hicken and Curt Devine, CNN (CNN) — The chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Committee called for an inspector general investigation into the US Coast Guard in the wake of revelations of systemic mishandling of sexual assault allegations at the US Coast Guard Academy. CNN recently revealed that Coast Guard leadership for years kept

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN (CNN) — The conversations keep happening – quiet whispers on the sidelines of events, texts, emails, furtive phone calls – as top Democrats and donors reach out to those seen as possible replacement presidential candidates. Get ready, they urge, in conversations that aides to several of the people involved have described

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN (CNN) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and the campaign of South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott both said Wednesday they’ve reached the number of individual donors that the Republican National Committee is requiring candidates to have in order to make the GOP debate stage in August. “I am glad to

By Katelyn Polantz and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department is appealing the sentences that eight convicted defendants tied to the Oath Keepers received for seditious conspiracy or other conspiracy charges related to their roles in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Federal prosecutors working on the cases of Oath

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — Bruce Hough, the father of two professional dancers who have been mainstays on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” has qualified for the Republican primary ballot in the special election for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District, the lieutenant governor’s office said Wednesday. Republican Rep. Chris Stewart has announced that he will

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — Despite frequent claims from Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama that new Pentagon reproductive health policies would result in thousands more abortions a year, the number estimated by a study Tuberville himself cites is far lower, though nearly impossible to actually know. Tuberville is protesting new Pentagon reproductive health

By Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — Nearly 40% of US fast attack submarines are in repair or awaiting maintenance as shipyards face a shortage of workers and and supply chain issues, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. Of the 49 fast attack submarines in the Navy, a total of 18 are

By Ariel Edwards-Levy, CNN (CNN) — Only 37% of eligible American citizens voted in all three of the most recent national general elections, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center – even though those elections saw some of the highest turnout in decades. The analysis, which tracked individual Americans’ voting decisions

By Katelyn Polantz, Tierney Sneed and Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — New court filings in a defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani show the promoters of the election fraud narrative after Donald Trump lost the presidency failed to do basic vetting of the claims they were touting – and didn’t see such vetting as necessary. For

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN (CNN) — Former Vice President Mike Pence said abortion should be banned when a pregnancy is not viable, according to the Associated Press. “I’m pro-life. I don’t apologize for it,” Pence told the AP in a recent interview. “I just have heard so many stories over the years of courageous women

By Shawna Mizelle and Jack Forrest, CNN (CNN) — Iowa’s Republican-controlled legislature advanced a bill that would ban most abortions in the state as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The state’s Senate passed a bill late Tuesday in a 32 to 17 vote and is now headed to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk for

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday said that Ukraine’s membership in NATO should not be considered until Russia’s war in the country ends. “I honestly believe that it’s important as the leader of the free world and the arsenal of democracy that America continue to provide the Ukrainians

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN Senior Reporter, Crime and Justice (CNN) — The Justice Department has taken an unusual step in court to try to protect former President Donald Trump from testifying under oath in a lawsuit from former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. Lawyers from the federal agency are asking the federal appeals

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is offering $20 gift cards to people who donate at least $1 to his presidential campaign. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has promised grassroots fundraisers a 10% cut of the money they bring into his campaign. Other candidates are just pleading for $1 donations or offering

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio is calling on Congress to stop funding Department of Justice investigations into elected officials, political candidates and their families until a new policy for how they are managed is developed. The a far-fetched ask from a key Donald Trump ally would indirectly

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department has reversed course and said it no longer believes that Donald Trump should be entitled to immunity for his response to E. Jean Carroll’s accusation of sexual assault, allowing the civil lawsuit to move forward to trial in January. The change in position eliminates one legal

By Kylie Atwood, Jennifer Hansler, Manu Raju, Betsy Klein and Arlette Saenz, CNN (CNN) — A full-court press by the Biden administration in the days leading up to the NATO summit capped months of behind-the-scenes diplomacy to get Turkey to move ahead with Sweden’s accession to NATO. A major part of that diplomatic effort: Getting

By Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The Pentagon is seeking to increase pressure on Sen. Tommy Tuberville in an attempt to break the Alabama Republican’s one-man hold on hundreds of senior military nominations. The effort includes back-channel conversations with Congress and members of the key oversight committees, but also a public campaign

By Melanie Zanona and Haley Talbot, CNN (CNN) — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia told CNN on Tuesday afternoon that she still hasn’t been informed by the House Freedom Caucus that she has been kicked out of the far-right group. But she said she’s “not really concerned about it.” “No one has told

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter (CNN) — The Supreme Court is holding fast to its ethics procedures in light of a new report raising questions about the extent to which colleges and universities have used campus visits by justices as an opportunity to generate donations despite a general ban on judicial fundraising.

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN (CNN) — Virginia’s Gov. Glenn Youngkin is encouraging Republicans to vote absentee by mail or early in-person ahead of his state’s pivotal legislative elections this year. Youngkin on Tuesday launched a new program, “Secure Your Vote Virginia,” aimed at cutting into Democrats’ mail-in voting advantage as Republican voters’ confidence in the

By Haley Talbot, Annie Grayer and Melanie Zanona, CNN (CNN) — The New Democrat Coalition, which says it has a 98-House member bloc, is ramping up pressure on Speaker Kevin McCarthy to reject hardliners in his party and instead work with Republicans and Democrats to pass its annual defense legislation in a timely manner. “Speaker

By Casey Gannon and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — For months, federal prosecutors have brought witnesses in front of a grand jury in Washington, DC, to investigate efforts by former President Donald Trump and his close allies to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election. The witnesses, several of whom appeared under subpoena, range

By Manu Raju, Rashard Rose and Lauren Fox, CNN (CNN) — Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama finally condemned White nationalists, telling reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that “White nationalists are racists,” after previously refusing to equate White nationalism with racism. Tuberville had doubled down Monday when asked about his previous comments on White

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — US prosecutors unsealed an indictment Monday charging the co-director of a think tank with illicit arms trafficking, violating US sanctions laws, and other charges, five months after he was arrested in Cyprus and fled from authorities. The US-Israeli citizen, Gal Luft, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of

By Kristen Holmes, Kate Sullivan and Jack Forrest, CNN (CNN) — A handful of Republican presidential candidates on Monday came to the defense of Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds – who holds a uniquely powerful position as governor of the first-in-the-nation GOP caucus state – after former President Donald Trump criticized her for staying neutral

By Nikki Carvajal, CNN (CNN) — The Biden administration has introduced a new plan to combat overdose deaths from xylazine, a powerful veterinary sedative that has increasingly shown up in such deaths across the country, exacerbating the opioid overdose epidemic in the United States. “I’m announcing that the White House is releasing our national response

By Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — The US Air Force has suspended personnel moves and bonuses through the end of the fiscal year as the service faces a funding shortfall driven by higher-than-expected costs, according to a statement from the service Monday. The Air Force said it needed to take these steps now “to avoid

By Arlette Saenz, CNN Vilnius, Lithuania (CNN) — President Joe Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit on Wednesday, an official familiar with the meeting has confirmed. The meeting will mark a sign of unity as Zelensky’s attendance at the summit had been in question. Russia’s war in Ukraine is

By Jennifer Hansler, Betsy Klein and Sugam Pokharel, CNN (CNN) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that Turkey has agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance – a major development on the eve of the NATO summit. The announcement epresents a stunning about-face from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who

By Alayna Treene and Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — The FBI participated in a flawed effort to stop Russian disinformation at the behest of a Ukrainian intelligence agency that instead ensnared authentic American accounts – even a verified Russian-language US State Department account, the House Judiciary Committee alleges in a new report obtained first by

By Tierney Sneed and Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — The first hearing before US District Judge Aileen Cannon in the federal criminal case against Donald Trump will be on July 18, according to a court order. The hearing will be about handling classified information in the case – the first of likely many proceedings on

By Manu Raju, Annie Grayer, Sara Murray, Evan Perez and Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — US Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing the Hunter Biden criminal probe, says in a letter obtained by CNN that he did not ask to be named as a special counsel and was never refused authority to bring charges anywhere

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — A major branch of the US military does not have a Senate confirmed leader for the first time in more than a century, as a result of a Republican senator refusing to lift his block on military nominations. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger relinquished command on

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — A New York judge has ordered Steve Bannon to pay his former attorneys nearly $500,000 in unpaid legal fees for work on various legal matters, including his fight against a subpoena by the congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack. The law firm Davidoff Hutcher &

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez entered the state’s US Senate race on Monday, becoming the second high-profile Democrat vying to take on Republican Sen. Ted Cruz next fall. Gutierrez, a long-time state lawmaker from San Antonio, represents a district that includes Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 elementary school

By Aileen Graef, CNN (CNN) — Ten al-Shabaab members were killed by airstrikes conducted by US Africa Command in Somalia in the overnight hours of Saturday, the Defense Department announced. “At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted three collective self-defense airstrikes overnight in a remote area near Afmadow, approximately

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN Washington (CNN) — A top House Republican said Sunday he agreed with the Biden administration’s contentious decision to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package, while a prominent progressive Democrat said the US risks “losing our moral leadership” over the move. House Foreign Affairs Chairman

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The US military killed an ISIS leader on Friday in a drone strike in eastern Syria, the US Central Command announced Sunday. The strike, carried out by the same MQ-9 Reaper drones that were harassed by Russian aircraft earlier that day, killed Usama al-Muhajir, according to a press release.