CNN – US Politics

By Zachary Cohen, Brian Stelter, CNN (CNN) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and political appointees in his department pushed for the two crew members of an F-15 who were shot down over Iran in April to participate in Sunday’s highly publicized “60 Minutes” report about the ensuing rescue operation, according to multiple sources familiar with

By Annie Grayer, Morgan Rimmer, CNN (CNN) — The Senate is set to return Monday after a five-week recess, and it is still unclear if GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell will end his three-month absence from the Capitol due to health issues. McConnell was hospitalized in June, which his office later said was due to a

By Tierney Sneed, Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — Republican attorneys general have shown their support for President Donald Trump’s election agenda by pressing courts to greenlight his proposed crackdown on mail voting. But election officials in at least half of those states have said that they won’t be able to comply with proposed US Postal

By Steve Contorno, CNN Dallas (CNN) — Behind closed doors on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance urged a room full of Republicans to sell voters on the administration’s more popular achievements that he worried weren’t always breaking through. One person, however, has proved particularly difficult to keep on message: President Donald Trump. Since joining Trump’s

By Kit Maher, Issy Ronald, Niamh Kennedy, CNN Dublin (CNN) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that Irish reunification “would be a fantastic thing” during a bilateral meeting with Ireland’s taoiseach, Micheál Martin, something he projected is “going to happen eventually.” When a reporter asked his view on the topic, Trump at first acknowledged his

By Ellis Kim, Lauren Fox, CNN (CNN) — A group of House Democratic lawmakers is pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson to reconvene the chamber immediately and cancel an upcoming break to address what they describe as the “catastrophic risk posed by advanced artificial intelligence.” In a letter to the speaker, the Democrats cite potential threats, including

By Molly English, CNN (CNN) — After spending the morning at the Pentagon to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11th tragedy, President Donald Trump apparently had another attack on his mind in the afternoon — posting the 5-year-old video of him telling January 6, 2021, rioters to go home after they violently stormed

By Katie Bo Lillis, CNN (CNN) — The now-infamous warning to then-President Bill Clinton was tucked at the bottom of a presidential intelligence brief delivered on September 10, 1998: A group associated with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden “may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city.” In the end, there were no explosives. Just

By Kylie Atwood, Katie Bo Lillis, Thomas Bordeaux, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Saudi Arabia has shut down a key oil pipeline after it was attacked by drones from Iraq, as repercussions of the Iran war widen. The development is more bad news for the Saudi government after the Iran-backed Houthis captured strategic points along

By Tierney Sneed, Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — In a victory for President Donald Trump, the Justice Department announced Friday that it secured a first-of-its-kind deportation through the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a secretive tribunal that had never been used before the administration activated it this summer. Nazira Haji Zada — an Afghan woman who

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance offered Republicans a glimpse of what could be the party’s future on Thursday night, as he hammered home a midterm message with overtures to disaffected voters, a pro-family pitch in personal terms, and plenty of red-meat attacks on Democrats. Then President Donald Trump stepped on

By Daniel Dale, Deidre McPhillips, Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump delivered another rapid-fire series of false claims on the second night of Republicans’ midterm convention on Thursday. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did his own barrage of wrongness. And various other speakers uttered statements that were untrue, misleading or missing critical

By Patrick Svitek, CNN (CNN) — Shouts of “he should be shot” could be heard multiple times Thursday night at the Republican midterm convention as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was criticizing prominent Democratic politicians by name. Cruz mentioned three Democrats — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and Texas Senate

By Lauren Fox, Sarah Ferris, Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — Even some of Democratic Sen. John Fetterman’s staffers were caught off guard when they saw him appearing in a video at the Republican midterm convention, according to two sources. But they weren’t exactly surprised. Fetterman has a long history of breaking with his own party,

By Adam Cancryn, Alayna Treene, Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump blindsided many of his own administration officials and allies with his vow to pay all American adults $5,000 if Republicans keep control of Congress, prompting an internal scramble on Thursday to backfill the proposal’s specifics, two people familiar with the matter told

By Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration’s pick to oversee a conspiracy investigation into the president’s foes has resigned under pressure from the Justice Department. Joe diGenova stepped down from his role overseeing DOJ’s vast so-called conspiracy investigation amid disagreements with top Justice Department officials over the pace of the south Florida-based probe

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto mogul who was convicted of defrauding investors by secretly diverting billions of dollars of their money, asked the Supreme Court on Thursday for a new trial and to throw out a court order requiring him to pay $11 billion as part of his sentence. Bankman-Fried was sentenced

By Zachary Cohen, Katie Bo Lillis, Kylie Atwood, CNN (CNN) — More than 100 US military advisers are on the ground in Saudi Arabia providing intelligence and targeting support to the Kingdom in its military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, multiple sources familiar with the effort say. The assistance comes as fighting on

By Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump and his top foreign policy aide, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have not condemned the United Kingdom, France, Canada and others for their planned sanctions on settlements in the occupied West Bank – a notable development from the self-described “most pro-Israel” administration in history.

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — A day after promising to send $5,000 dividend payments to all Americans, President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would distribute $500 rebate checks to nearly one million Affordable Care Act enrollees in 30 states. In a video posted on the White House X account, Trump said that these

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN (CNN) — Kamala Harris will keynote a Fulton County Democrats dinner and stump with Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff at the end of October, capping off a spate of appearances on the trail for a select group of candidates on the midterms ballot this year. That positions Harris as a closer in

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court sided with opponents of a Republican-friendly congressional map in Missouri on Thursday, rejecting a plan that could have given the GOP an extra seat in the House of Representatives. The order, issued without explanation and no noted dissent, will almost certainly mean the state will use

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed sweeping changes to the US census that could leave millions out of the count, dramatically altering the allocation of congressional seats and billions in federal funds. The proposed regulation posted in the Federal Register would add a citizenship question to the 2030

By Davis Winkie, CNN (CNN) — The UN’s nuclear watchdog agency is asking the body to hold Iran accountable for failing to stick with safeguards meant to prevent the development of nuclear weapons, diplomatic officials announced Wednesday. It’s the latest chapter in a more than decade-long effort to keep an eye on Iran that has

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump vowed to pay every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain their House and Senate majorities in November’s midterm elections – an extraordinary offer as he tries to keep his party in power. But he offered no details on how he would pay for such a move,

By David Wright, CNN (CNN) — Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes will win the Democratic nomination for governor of Rhode Island, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, defeating incumbent Gov. Dan McKee as she capitalized on voter frustration over the partial closure of a key bridge and the ensuing traffic chaos. Used by tens of thousands of

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump made numerous false claims in his rambling Wednesday speech at the Republican midterm convention. Trump repeated long-debunked lies about elections and immigration. He delivered a whopper on the critical subject of inflation, wrongly saying “almost every item” is getting cheaper even as prices continue to rise.

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — As her husband was out of town Wednesday night, first lady Melania Trump addressed a group of historians and preservation-minded VIPs in President Donald Trump’s newly renovated White House Rose Garden, where she spoke about being a good steward of the people’s house. “The White House stands as an

By Sarah Ferris (CNN) — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman praised his Republican colleague from his home state, Sen. Dave McCormick, in a surprise video appearance at the GOP midterm convention, and condemned the rise of far-left voices in his own party. In the roughly one-minute video introducing McCormick on stage, Fetterman made clear that he

CNN By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump vowed to pay every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain their House and Senate majorities in November’s midterm elections – an extraordinary offer as he tries to keep his party in power. But he offered no details on how he would pay for such a

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — A fast-moving legal battle over Missouri’s effort to eke an additional Republican seat out of its congressional map for this year’s midterm election returned to the US Supreme Court on Wednesday, a day after Justice Brett Kavanaugh had effectively rejected the same proposed map. A group that organized opposition

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — The White House has removed from its website an arcade-style “Build the Wall” game closely styled like Tetris, which comes after the gaming company warned of copyright infringement. The White House last week launched a series of games on its website to tout the administration’s priorities. But two games

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — The issue of medication abortion was back before a New Orleans-based appeals court on Wednesday, in the latest iteration of a yearslong legal effort to end the provision of abortion drugs via telehealth. Medication abortion now accounts for two-thirds of US abortions, which overall have increased since the 2022

By Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he expects Iran will abandon its war effort after the US midterm elections – and he conceded American gas prices are unlikely to fall before then. Speaking to reporters on his way to the GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Trump asserted that Iran

By Alejandra Jaramillo, Kristen Holmes, Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — A military aide who was working on the Qatari-gifted jet that’s serving as Air Force One accidentally deployed an emergency slide on Wednesday, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, delaying President Donald Trump’s trip to Dallas for the GOP’s midterm convention. It was quickly

CNN By Jennifer Agiesta, Ariel Edwards-Levy, Edward Wu, CNN (CNN) — The critical Senate contests in both Maine and Michigan feature tight races with no clear leader, according to new CNN polls conducted by SSRS. But voters in the two states see their choices through two very different lenses. In Maine, the race centers more

By Ariel Edwards-Levy, CNN (CNN) — These days, it’s easier than ever to conduct some form of polling and as difficult as it’s ever been to get it right. Completely faked numbers like a phony “poll” of the Los Angeles mayoral race that made waves last month are thankfully rare. That said, even real polls

By Jennifer Agiesta, Ariel Edwards-Levy, Edward Wu, CNN (CNN) — The critical Senate contests in both Maine and Michigan feature tight races with no clear leader, according to new CNN polls conducted by SSRS. But voters in the two states see their choices through two very different lenses. In Maine, the race centers more on

By Davis Winkie, Zachary Cohen, Thomas Bordeaux, CNN (CNN) — A suspected Iranian nuclear site buried under granite has seen a flurry of construction work this year as the war with the US has transpired, according to a group of analysts who reviewed six years of satellite imagery. The Pickaxe Mountain site, located near the

By Steve Contorno, Alayna Treene, CNN Dallas (CNN) — For a decade, President Donald Trump has made himself his party’s main character — a singular force around whom its rallies, conventions and political identity have revolved. Republicans are taking that devotion a step further this week, gathering in the Lone Star State at Trump’s behest

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump gave Natalie Harp and two other White House aides $45,000 each in cash gifts, according to financial disclosure statements. Harp, whose close relationship with Trump has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, and the other two female aides reported the money as

By David Wright, Katie Doran, Izzy Lippolis, CNN (CNN) — Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas will face Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu in the race for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat, CNN’s Decision Desk projects. The battle for retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s seat could prove critical to her party’s hopes of flipping the chamber

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has for years told false or unproven stories about what he supposedly saw and did on 9/11 and soon after. As the 25th anniversary of the terror attack approaches, Trump told another story at the White House on Tuesday — in which he claimed to have

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — Back-to-back court orders on Tuesday injected chaos into Missouri’s plans for this year’s midterms, with state officials and a group opposed to a GOP-friendly congressional map racing into multiple courts with less than two months before Election Day. A federal district court ordered Missouri to proceed with a congressional

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — Chinese artificial intelligence firms are committing “industrial-scale” theft of their American counterparts’ trade secrets to save money and bring the coveted technology to market faster, US federal agencies alleged Tuesday. Major Chinese tech companies are using “distillation,” which involves training lesser AI models on more advanced ones, to “extract

By Tim Lister, Zachary Cohen, Hira Humayun, Lex Harvey, CNN (CNN) — At least seven oil tankers have been struck in and beyond the Persian Gulf since Tuesday evening local time, as the United States and Iran step up tanker attacks in what could mark a dangerous new phase in the war. The escalation led

By Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — A member of the Georgia National Guard assigned to the task force patrolling Washington, DC, is facing assault and gun charges after he was accused of pulling his firearm on a fellow soldier during an argument last month. Zion Mitchell, 21, faces charges of assault with a dangerous weapon

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday honored the heroes who bravely ran toward the danger during the September 11, 2001, terror attacks as the nation prepares to commemorate the day’s solemn 25th anniversary. He also used the event near the White House in Washington, DC, to briefly plug some of

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — Lonnie Bunch III said he will retire as the head of the Smithsonian Institution, a role that placed him at the center of President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the world’s largest museum organization. “It is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement from

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration took sweeping actions against Iran’s airline industry on Tuesday as part of its pressure campaign on Tehran. The latest sanctions hit 27 Iranian airlines and nine service providers and sales agents accused of providing services to Mahan Air, which has been sanctioned since 2011. Mahan Air

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reinstate a controversial citizenship records system his administration has sought to wield for sweeping reviews of state voter rolls. Voter roll audits using the Department of Homeland Security data program known as SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) have

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — CNN will host a California gubernatorial debate later this month, just weeks before Election Day as voters in the nation’s most populous state decide who will succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The one-hour debate between Democrat Xavier Becerra, who served as health and human services secretary during the

By Patrick Svitek, CNN (CNN) — On Friday, Sen. Roger Marshall took a rare step for a Republican incumbent running in Kansas: launching an attack ad against his Democratic rival. When pastor Adam Hamilton launched his campaign for the seat four months ago, the odds seemed long. The state has not sent a Democrat to

By Katie Bo Lillis, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — In offices across the military and in the intelligence community, there have been recent quiet discussions about cutting the number of people and facilities typically stationed in the Middle East if the Trump administration succeeds in ending the Iran conflict, six sources say. If those cuts

By Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — With less than two months to go until this year’s midterm elections, Democrats are becoming increasingly unnerved about the possibility of President Donald Trump deploying federal immigration officers or troops to polling places. Messaging from the Trump administration about that potential has been mixed. While some, like Joint Chiefs

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN Aiken, South Carolina (CNN) — The hair gel mostly withstood the Low Country’s sticky sweat. Between events in South Carolina, now fully enshrined as Democrats’ first presidential primary state, Gavin Newsom acknowledged last week’s trip was indeed part of feeling out a campaign. “Obviously, it’s an early calendar state, but, you

By Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — The left wing of the Democratic Party flourished this summer as fed-up liberals in key races across the country have eschewed traditional, more moderate candidates in favor of hard-charging progressives. But behind the scenes, ultra-progressive House members and candidates are pushing their own party leaders to reflect more of

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to suggest that New Mexico should be called “New America,” posting a photo of the state with the new name days after he signed an executive order to change Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” The image posted on Truth Social, which was

By Gregory Clary, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — A man later found to have weapons on him allegedly pushed through a crowd toward Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton on Sunday and injured multiple people at a fair in Canfield, a campaign spokesperson and the local county sheriff said. “While attending the Canfield Fair,

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday again asked the Supreme Court to allow the US Postal Service plan for mail ballots to take effect immediately, a mostly procedural move that nonetheless underscores the president’s desire to restrict mail voting during the critical midterm elections. In its emergency appeal, the

By Manu Raju, CNN (CNN) — Sen. John Fetterman is lashing out at former aides who accused him of showing indifference toward his work and of routinely skipping constituent meetings, dismissing them as “disgruntled staffers” pushing “smears” to tarnish his reputation. The first-term Pennsylvania Democrat broke his silence this weekend after The Wall Street Journal

By Steve Contorno, Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — Charlie Kirk sat before a Salt Lake City audience of restaurateurs last September 10, dispensing business advice drawn from his own unlikely rise. The conservative activist argued that a company needed a deep connection to the founder’s “energy and vision” to endure, but he also warned that

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision backing President Donald Trump’s massive ballroom at the White House is already playing into challenges over his other pet projects and has renewed a debate over a legal doctrine tied to an abandoned California ski resort and crocodiles in Egypt. Over the objection of

By Kaanita Iyer, Patrick Svitek, Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s super PAC has started spending its massive war chest on the midterm elections, disclosing ad buys totaling $10 million in support of Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Republicans had long awaited action from MAGA Inc., growing anxious over being outspent in tough

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department has issued several subpoenas to Nevada’s secretary of state seeking voter information, marking another effort by the Trump administration to insert the federal government more directly into the administration of elections. The office of Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, which oversees elections in the state,

By Fredreka Schouten, Patrick Svitek, CNN (CNN) — For months, Texas Republicans have anxiously awaited the arrival of national resources to help boost Ken Paxton, one of the GOP’s most vulnerable Senate candidates. Now, Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has entered the scene, this week disclosing the first spending from his super PAC to

By John Fritze, Ethan Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Missouri officials urged the Supreme Court on Friday to reinstate a congressional map that includes an additional seat for the Republican Party, the latest emergency case tied to President Donald Trump’s nationwide redistricting fight to reach the high court. The emergency appeal comes a day after the

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court on Friday endorsed a request from Republican campaign groups that want to buy discounted TV advertising for this year’s midterms, the latest in a series of emergency rulings from the high court benefiting the GOP. The decision effectively upholds guidance issued by the Federal Communications Commission

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week instructed diplomats around the world to tell their host countries they must “systematically identify and sever” ties to Iran, and those with branches of Iranian banks must shut them down immediately. On Friday, the US Treasury Department announced it was targeting

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Friday labeled the Iran war “small potatoes,” the latest attempt to minimize a six-month conflict that caused a spike in gas prices and led to the deaths of 18 American service-members. “A lot of people don’t call it a war. I call it a military

By Evan Perez, Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — For a decade, Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt has been ensnared in the tentacles of a sprawling Justice Department probe into a sophisticated billion-dollar money laundering scheme that US prosecutors allege embezzled funds from Venezuela’s state-owned oil company known as PDVSA. In recent months, federal prosecutors in Miami

By Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump is planning to take the Qatari-gifted jet used as Air Force One when he travels to Ireland later this month, a senior White House official told CNN, just two months after he flew it to Turkey and then secretly left the country on an alternate plane

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer violated department policy by drinking alcohol at the office and telling her staff to perform personal tasks for her, an independent Labor Department investigation found. The scathing report published Thursday by the department’s Office of Inspector General also found that Chavez-DeRemer accepted expensive gifts

By Molly English, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump did not dispute that he is building monuments to himself amid his architectural blitz in Washington, DC, saying in a recent interview that “nobody will do it once I’m gone.” When asked about the monuments, such as the “triumphal arch,” by New York Magazine, Trump agreed

By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — William Lawrence, the Democratic nominee in one of the country’s most competitive House races in Michigan, deleted hundreds of old social media posts in which he embraced police and prison abolition, called for nationalizing fossil-fuel companies to end their production, attacked moderate Democrats and argued for a “fundamental overhaul”

By Amy O’Kruk, Rhyannon Bartlett-Imadegawa, CNN (CNN) — Mail-in voting in the 2026 midterm elections is underway following weeks of legal fighting over the Trump administration’s effort to change how ballots are sent to voters. Most recently, the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s plan, which would have given the US Postal Service unprecedented power

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration launched a series of arcade-style games on the official White House website Thursday to tout its priorities — the latest turn in its aggressive online effort to troll Democrats that has at times surfaced racist and offensive images. The White House’s online arcade includes games where

By Sunlen Serfaty, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration plans to break ground on the president’s “triumphal arch” in the next two weeks, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced Thursday, immediately spurring opponents to go to federal court for an emergency injunction. “We are pleased to announce that after a very long wait (over

By Kaanita Iyer, Sunlen Serfaty, CNN (CNN) — In a months-long summer saga that does not appear to want to end, the Trump administration has hired yet another new company to help clean and maintain the Lincoln Reflecting Pool — adding more cost and more questions to the renovation project that was meant to be

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance could provide neither a timeline for the Iran war to end nor a date when gas prices might sink below pre-war levels during a White House appearance Thursday, suggesting instead it was up to Iran to conclude the conflict that began with joint US-Israeli airstrikes

By Sunlen Serfaty, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Thursday lamented the anger and threats she has faced over the removal of trees as part of President Donald Trump’s controversial effort to turn a public golf course in Washington, DC, into a championship-level one. But the discussion about the removal of the

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has for months been using a fictional economic figure. Vice President JD Vance echoed it on Thursday. Vance, listing the administration’s “wins” while speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room, claimed “we’ve seen $19 trillion of new investment come into the country.” But there

By John Fritze, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to give the US Postal Service sweeping power to withhold delivery of mail ballots, setting up an extraordinary showdown over voting at the high court less than two months before the November midterm election. The emergency appeal,

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Whitney Wild, Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been federally charged with lying about the events leading up to his shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant earlier this year, according to an indictment that was unsealed on Friday. The officer, Christian Castro, is facing six counts of

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk’s super PAC has disclosed its first spending on behalf of Republican candidates, providing roughly $800,000 to help congressional contenders across several states, new filings show. The expenditures by America PAC, made in August and disclosed on Wednesday night to the Federal Election Commission, cover printing costs –

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — House Oversight Chair James Comer of Kentucky said Thursday that Sen. Mitch McConnell’s staff have told him they are hoping the senator – who has had an extended absence from Washington due to health issues – will return when the Senate comes back into session on September 14. Although

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Billionaire investor Leon Black is suing the House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein to try and block the panel from obtaining his non-disclosure agreements and testimony. Black’s refusal to turn over the documents and appear for his deposition in front of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday marks a major

By Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick publicly apologized on Thursday after falsely asserting that no Americans had died during the Trump administration’s war with Iran. Lutnick made the claim while defending the war in an interview on CNBC, saying that “the way the president is playing Iran, right, there haven’t

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has suggested federal agencies may stop working with the Smithsonian Institution if its leadership does not change, ramping up a monthslong pressure campaign to align the world’s largest museum complex with its views. In an August 28 letter to the Smithsonian’s governing body that was

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — It’s a question President Donald Trump has privately been asking his national security team for months: Why aren’t the Iranian people toppling their leaders? It was an outcome he seemed relatively certain of at the start of the war, convinced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that street protests

By Zachary Cohen, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — The US military escorted 40 commercial vessels carrying 18 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, marking a wartime high as Iran and the US exchanged a new round strikes on Tuesday, two US officials familiar with the operations told CNN. Prior to the launch

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s renewed attempt to limit birthright citizenship, partially halting an executive order the president issued after the Supreme Court struck down his more sweeping effort last year. US District Judge Deborah Boardman said the administration could not enforce the new, more

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — Newly unsealed court transcripts reveal behind the scenes discussions taking place weeks before Luigi Mangione ultimately pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges tied to the murder of the chief executive of United Healthcare. The transcripts of two court hearings confirm that Mangione was on the cusp of pleading guilty

By Priscilla Alvarez, Tami Luhby, Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department moved Wednesday to require states to provide information on undocumented immigrants or lose federal funding for two key public assistance programs, issuing a sweeping revision of a long-standing legal opinion. It’s the latest move by the Trump administration to force states to

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — New $1 coins featuring President Donald Trump appeared to be out of stock Wednesday afternoon, hours after they went on sale from the US Mint at noon. One side of the coin shows Trump’s presidential portrait with the inscription “IN GOD WE TRUST” and “LIBERTY.” On the other side

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — New Jersey on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to shut down prediction markets in the state, teeing up a potential landmark case where the justices could decide if the highly popular but controversial industry can survive in its current form. This is the first time the nationwide legal battle

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — The Kennedy Center has taken down a stick figure sculpture on the grounds as President Donald Trump has aimed to reshape the performing arts institution, including with new art. A CNN affiliate observed cranes removing pieces of the large statue on Wednesday morning. The National Park Service temporarily closed

By Haley Britzky, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — In the aftermath of the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, multiple sources told CNN they believe Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is damaging the Army’s efforts to adapt to the modern battlefield as he focuses on culture wars and prioritizing his own image of the “American warfighter,”

By David Wright, Katie Doran, Rashell Marthans, CNN (CNN) — Sen. Ed Markey will win the Democratic nomination for US Senate in Massachusetts, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, fending off a primary challenge from Rep. Seth Moulton as he seeks a third full term. In a year that has seen the ouster of several veteran Democrats

By Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox, Ellis Kim, CNN (CNN) — The House on Tuesday took the rare step of punishing one of its members — GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards — over allegations of inappropriate behavior toward two female staffers that prompted them to quit his office. Edwards had already been forced to abandon his reelection