CNN – US Politics

By Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler, CNN The US is imposing new sanctions on groups in Russia and Iran accused of taking Americans hostage as it works to prevent more captive-taking and potentially secure the release of citizens currently being detained. The move comes amid several high-profile cases of Americans being wrongfully detained.

By Aaron Cooper, CNN E. Jean Carroll returned to the stand on Thursday in her civil battery and defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, with the columnist telling the jury about her experience with him in a New York department store in the face of cross-examination from Trump’s attorney. Trump’s defense has focused on

By Shania Shelton, David Wright and Manu Raju, CNN Republican Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia announced his Senate candidacy on Thursday, setting up a potential challenge to Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, among the most vulnerable incumbents in 2024. “I am officially announcing my candidacy for the United States Senate,” Justice told a roomful of

By Manu Raju, Melanie Zanona and Lauren Fox, CNN Speaker Kevin McCarthy rolled the dice. As he took his short walk from the speaker’s suite to the House floor on Wednesday evening, the California Republican wasn’t entirely sure he would have the votes on the most important bill of his young speakership: To raise the

By Amy Simonson and Shawna Mizelle, CNN The Justice Department on Wednesday filed a complaint challenging a recently enacted Tennessee bill that prohibits gender-affirming care for minors, saying it “denies necessary medical care to youth based solely on who they are.” DOJ argues in its complaint that the legislation violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection

By Haley Britzky, Oren Liebermann and Natasha Bertrand, CNN The Air Force suspended two leaders of suspected classified document leaker Jack Teixeira‘s unit, it said in a statement Wednesday, one week after the unit stopped performing its intelligence mission amid an investigation into the leaks. The commander of the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron, part of

By Devan Cole, CNN A state judge in Missouri temporarily blocked the state’s limits on gender-affirming care for minors and adults in the state on Wednesday, putting them on hold just hours before they were set to go into effect. In a brief order from St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo, the court essentially

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN Reporter, Crime and Justice Former President Donald Trump has lost an emergency attempt to block former Vice President Mike Pence from testifying about their direct conversations, in the latest boost to a federal criminal investigation examining Trump’s and others’ actions after the 2020 election. The former president has repeatedly tried and

By Jennifer Hansler and Noon Salih, CNN As the crisis in Sudan continues to unfold, there is mounting anger among Americans who feel abandoned by the US government and left to navigate the complicated and dangerous situation on their own. “I am incredibly shocked and disgusted by the American lackluster response to the health and

By Eric Bradner, CNN Montana’s Republican-dominated House voted Wednesday to ban Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who had said GOP lawmakers would have “blood” on their hands for passing bills restricting transgender rights and rallied protesters Monday after Speaker Matt Regier blocked her from being recognized to speak, from the House chamber for the remainder of this

By Ted Barrett, CNN A group of Senate Republicans Wednesday unexpectedly rejected efforts to advance a bipartisan bill that would direct the Veterans Affairs Department to carry out studies and clinical trials on the use of cannabis to treat veterans’ chronic pain and PTSD. The vote on the procedural measure was 57-42, falling shy of

By Laura Ly, CNN Two associates of former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon were sentenced to more than seven years in prison collectively in connection with defrauding donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a border wall scheme, according to a news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New

By Ted Barrett, CNN The Senate voted Wednesday to rescind a Biden administration emissions regulation for heavy-duty trucks that Republicans decry as too burdensome, warning it will hurt the trucking industry and have negative ripple effects through the economy. The vote was 50-49, with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia the only Democrat to vote

By Holmes Lybrand The rapper Pras Michel was found guilty in federal court in Washington on Wednesday of 10 criminal counts related to an international conspiracy reaching the highest levels of the US government. The Grammy-winning artist and former member of the Fugees faced multiple counts over the failed conspiracy to help Malaysian businessman Jho

By Betsy Klein, Kevin Liptak and Maegan Vazquez, CNN President Joe Biden says he “took a hard look” at his own age as he contemplated whether to seek reelection, marking his first substantive response to a question about his decision to run for president again since he announced his 2024 bid on Tuesday. “(The American

By Lauren del Valle, CNN Former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll took the stand Wednesday in her battery and defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump, testifying in chilling detail about the alleged sexual assault by the former president in a New York City department store. “I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote

By Eric Bradner and Steve Contorno, CNN Walt Disney Parks and Resorts on Wednesday sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his hand-picked oversight board, accusing the Republican 2024 presidential prospect of weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its free speech rights. The lawsuit was filed in federal court minutes after the

By Marshall Cohen and Zachary Cohen, CNN Special Counsel Jack Smith has expressed interest in audio tapes recorded by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg while she worked at the right-wing network, her lawyer said. Grossberg attorney Gerry Filippatos told CNN on Wednesday that he has given a spreadsheet to the special counsel’s team, detailing

By Veronica Stracqualursi and Eva McKend, CNN Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson formally kicked off his presidential campaign on Wednesday with a speech in Bentonville, Arkansas, seeking to distinguish himself from the GOP field with his long career in government and as a “consistent conservative.” “Today, I am announcing that I am a candidate for

By Lauren Fox and Shawna Mizelle, CNN A bipartisan pair of senators will introduce legislation on Wednesday that aims to implement new ethics standards on the Supreme Court, though it would still grant the high court extensive power to police itself. The “Supreme Court Code of Conduct Act,” to be introduced by Independent Maine Sen.

By Melanie Zanona, Kristin Wilson, Lauren Fox, Manu Raju and Haley Talbot, CNN The House voted Wednesday to pass a bill raising the nation’s debt ceiling, after days of wrangling Republican lawmakers to unify behind the package, which would bolster House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s position at the negotiating table with the White House. The final

By Lauren del Valle, CNN E. Jean Carroll and two other women will testify in the battery and defamation trial against former President Donald Trump to show Trump’s pattern of alleged violent behavior, Carroll’s attorney told jurors during opening statements on Tuesday. “Three women, one clear pattern,” attorney Shawn Crowley said. “Start with a friendly

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter Chief Justice John Roberts has notified Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin that he won’t testify at an upcoming hearing on Supreme Court ethics, instead releasing a new statement signed by all nine justices that is meant to provide “clarity” to the public about the high court’s

By Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann and Kylie Atwood, CNN The ISIS-K leader who planned the deadly 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul international airport’s Abbey Gate was killed by the Taliban, according to the National Security Council. The administration didn’t name the ISIS-K leader, but John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications,

By Ted Barrett and Jessica Dean, CNN Montana Sen. Steve Daines, who heads the Senate Republican campaign committee, said reaction has been “positive” to his unexpected endorsement Monday of Donald Trump to be president and he described the move as something that will help Republican candidates win in next year’s elections. “We are going to

By Marshall Cohen The judge overseeing an Arkansas paternity case involving Hunter Biden has ordered the president’s son to appear in court next Monday. Independence County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer ruled Monday that all parties involved in the case must appear for a contempt hearing next week in Batesville, Arkansas, according to court filings. An

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN Republican Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota signed a near-total abortion ban bill into law Monday. Senate Bill 2150, which passed in the state’s legislature last week, defines abortion as “the act of using, selling, or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent

By Jasmine Wright, CNN Vice President Kamala Harris will make the case for President Joe Biden’s reelection bid Tuesday at a political rally on reproductive freedom, a Harris adviser told CNN, saying that “finishing the job” for 2024 is about fighting to protect abortion access among other rights facing nationwide restrictions. Harris will “highlight the

By Manu Raju and Melanie Zanona, CNN House Republican leaders are still struggling to get to 218 votes on their package to raise the national debt limit — and are uncertain when they will be able to hold the vote, according to multiple GOP sources. While Republicans hadn’t yet scheduled the vote, they had made

By Betsy Klein, CNN Ties between the US and South Korea will be front and center in the décor and on the menu for Wednesday’s elaborate state dinner at the White House, which will be held under towering cherry blossom branches in the East Room following weeks of careful diplomatic preparations. “From my husband, I

By Ella Nilsen, CNN The Biden administration is rethinking how homes are heated and cooled in the US, eyeing a tried-and-true, but thus far underutilized, climate solution to reduce planet-warming pollution and save homeowners money on energy costs. To do it, the Department of Energy is tapping 11 communities around the US to spend the

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter A company related to Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, a longtime friend of Clarence Thomas who paid for lavish trips for the Supreme Court justice and his wife, had business before the Supreme Court in the mid-2000s, records show. Crow’s name does not appear in a caption of

By Kate Sullivan, Kylie Atwood and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday acknowledged the steep challenge Republicans face in trying to enact hardline national restrictions but said she believed the federal government should play a role in regulating the procedure and called for a “constructive conversation” on the polarizing issue. She

By Kristen Holmes, CNN Montana Sen. Steve Daines, the head of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, endorsed former President Donald Trump Monday night. “The best four years I’ve had in the US Senate is when President Trump was serving in the Oval Office,” Daines told Donald Trump Jr. on Trump’s Rumble show, “Triggered.” “You talk

By Zachary Cohen, Annie Grayer, Alayna Treene and Sara Murray, CNN House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has issued a subpoena to Jennifer Leigh Moore, executive assistant director of human resources at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, demanding she answer questions from the select subcommittee on the so-called weaponization of the federal government. Russell Dye, Jordan’s

By Jason Morris and Devan Cole, CNN Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis plans to announce this summer whether she’ll bring charges against former President Donald Trump or his allies for their attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results, according to a letter obtained by CNN. Willis told local law enforcement officials in a

By Holmes Lybrand and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN After months of legal battles, infighting between defense lawyers and dozens of rejected mistrial motions, the federal criminal trial against five Proud Boys accused of plotting to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, moved to its final stage Monday. One prosecutor and two defense attorneys gave

By Lauren Fox and Haley Talbot, CNN House Republican Whip Tom Emmer sounded upbeat Monday as he vowed Republicans will have the votes to pass their debt ceiling bill later this week, making the case he’s made to members all weekend that a vote against the package would hand President Joe Biden and Democrats a

By Andrew Kaczynski and Olivia Alafriz, CNN President Joe Biden, who at 80 has had to confront questions about his age and mental acuity as he launches a reelection campaign for president, once ran a campaign that sharply attacked his opponent’s age. In 1972, Biden, then 29 years old and a local Delaware councilman, was

By Tierney Sneed A key Democratic senator is scrutinizing a Republican megadonor who financed luxury travel taken by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a real estate transaction with his family, and examining whether the gifts and deal triggered obligations under US tax law. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden is asking the Texas billionaire

By Maegan Vazquez, Nikki Carvajal and Kevin Liptak, CNN President Joe Biden said Monday that he would let people know “real soon” about his reelection plans — stopping short of announcing another run during a White House ceremony honoring the 2023 Teacher of the Year recipients. Asked by reporters about his reelection plans, Biden responded:

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN Domestic violent extremists have in the last year increasingly shared tactics with each other on using guns to attack electric power stations in a move that likely escalates the threat to US critical infrastructure, according to a Department of Homeland Security bulletin obtained by CNN. Following multiple high-profile attacks on US

By Daniel Dale, CNN Former President Donald Trump keeps using wildly inaccurate figures to minimize the threat of climate change. Trump, now a presidential candidate, has argued in speeches and interviews that the risk of nuclear war is a much more important issue than climate change. He is entitled to his opinion. But he has

By Gregory Krieg and Eric Bradner, CNN The question put to South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, hours after he announced plans to run for the Republican presidential nomination, was a simple one: How do you plan to defeat Donald Trump? Scott spoke for nearly a minute, discussing his mother, his belief in the power of

By Donald Judd, CNN White House Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice will leave her administration post next month, an official tells CNN, marking one of the Biden administration’s highest-profile departures as the president’s domestic agenda stalls in a divided Congress. Rice’s final day will be May 26, the official said. NBC News first reported her

By Tierney Sneed The Supreme Court said Monday that it will consider whether the First Amendment protects social media users from being blocked from commenting on the personal pages that government officials use to communicate actions related to their duties. The justices said they were taking up two cases concerning the question: one lawsuit brought

By Jennifer Hansler and Donald Judd, CNN US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday announced that the warring factions in Sudan agreed to a a ceasefire, “starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours.” The agreement between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, came

By Paula Reid and Annie Grayer, CNN Hunter Biden’s lawyer is asking for the Treasury Department’s inspector general and the Office of Congressional Ethics to launch inquiries as part of a broader aggressive strategy to strike back at detractors of President Joe Biden’s son. Abbe David Lowell, the lawyer for Hunter Biden, sent a letter

By Sam Fossum and Shawna Mizelle, CNN Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that he will follow precedent for replacing Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee if she resigns, signaling a willingness to vote to replace the California Democrat if she left the chamber altogether. “If she does resign, I would be in the

By Steve Contorno, CNN After a trying week for his national political ambitions, Gov. Ron DeSantis is headed abroad this week for a series of visits to allied nations — an opportunity for the Florida Republican to step onto the international stage for the first time as a likely presidential contender. The official purpose behind

By Alayna Treene, CNN Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Sunday that she believes President Joe Biden should sit down with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and negotiate Republicans’ proposed spending cuts, but she insisted those talks should be in relation to the federal budget — not raising the debt limit. “Of course, President Biden

By Dana Bash, CNN Some 10,000 people from all over the world gathered last week in Poland for the annual March of the Living, a 2-mile walk from Auschwitz to Birkenau, where Nazis murdered over a million civilians — mostly Jews — during World War II. One of the most famous marchers was Meek Mill,