Politics

By Kevin Liptak and Jeremy Diamond, CNN (CNN) — Lab testing for the substance found at the White House on Sunday has come back positive for cocaine, a spokesman for the Secret Service told CNN. Prior field testing showed a positive result for cocaine, but the substance was sent for further evaluation and testing, the

By Gregory Krieg, CNN (CNN) — Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and wife Chirlane McCray, who for a time became one of the most influential biracial political power couples in America, announced on Wednesday that they are separating. In an interview with The New York Times, de Blasio and McCray said they

By Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — Former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones announced Wednesday that he is running for Congress in New York’s 17th District, the seat he previously represented before redistricting thwarted his reelection plans last year. “I’ve never been Washington’s choice. It’s because I stand up to corruption. I battle with Republicans trying to

By Kit Maher and Jeff Zeleny, CNN (CNN) — A spokesman for a super PAC backing Ron DeSantis acknowledged that the Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate is “way behind” in national polling and is “fighting uphill” to defeat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 primary. “Right now, in national polling, we are way

By Noah Gray, Josh Campbell and Arlette Saenz, CNN Washington (CNN) — A powdery substance that was discovered at the White House Sunday evening, prompting a temporary evacuation of the complex, has been sent for further evaluation and testing, the Secret Service said. A field test determined that the substance was possibly cocaine, according to

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Lots of low-wage workers just received a boost in pay, as more than a dozen states and localities increased their minimum wages. Oregon beefed up its hourly minimum wage by 70 cents to $14.20 as of July 1, while Nevada increased its minimum wage by 75 cents to $11.25,

By Jack Forrest, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden announced Monday his intention to nominate a former appointee under former President Donald Trump with a controversial past in Latin America to the bipartisan United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. Elliott Abrams, who has served in three Republican administrations, most recently acted as the Trump

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Fueled by surging revenues, states have been slashing taxes for individuals and businesses for the past three years. But the party is expected to come to an end in the coming fiscal year, which started on Saturday in 46 states. Revenue is projected to decline by 0.7% in fiscal

By Andrew Kaczynski and Abby Turner, CNN (CNN) — Former President Donald Trump said in 2016 that a president under indictment would “cripple the operations of our government” and create an “unprecedented constitutional crisis” – years before he himself was indicted on federal charges while running for a second term as president. Trump made the

By Fredreka Schouten and Eva McKend, CNN (CNN) — The 2024 Republican presidential field has already made history months before the first nominating contest: A record six of the roughly dozen major candidates seeking to become their party’s standard-bearer are people of color. That includes three Black men: South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Texas

By Sam Fossum (CNN) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Beijing later this week as part of ongoing efforts by the Biden administration to deepen communication between the US and China after what has been a particularly fraught and unstable time, the Treasury Department announced Sunday evening. Yellen will be the second Cabinet-level

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN (CNN) — Republican presidential candidate Will Hurd said Sunday he was working toward “hitting all the requirements” to qualify for next month’s first GOP primary debate in Milwaukee. But when it came to the requirement to pledge his support to the eventual GOP nominee – even if that is former President

By Aileen Graef and Shawna Mizelle, CNN Washington (CNN) — Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said Sunday that some Supreme Court justices are “destroying the legitimacy of the court,” amid a lack of oversight, calling it “profoundly dangerous” for democracy. “We have a broad level of tools to deal with misconduct, overreach and

By Haley Britzky, CNN Washington (CNN) — The US Army’s air defense units are among the most overworked in the US military, manning missile systems across the globe to provide around-the-clock deterrence against adversaries including North Korea, China, Iran and Russia. In describing the problem to CNN, the Army’s most senior air defense officer, Lt.

By Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — Former president Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – both maligned by Democrats and medical experts for not doing enough to slow the spread of the coronavirus – are lately each trying to convince GOP voters that the other was too strict in responding to Covid-19. Their disparate

By Kit Maher, Kristen Holmes and Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — A campaign Twitter account for Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential bid is being criticized for marking the end of Pride Month on Friday by sharing a video slamming Republican rival Donald Trump’s previous promise to protect LGBTQ rights. DeSantis War Room – the Florida governor’s

By Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene and Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — Following his defeat in the 2020 election, President Donald Trump spoke to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to discuss the results, a source familiar with the call told CNN. Publicly, Ducey said at the time that the two Republican leaders had spoken, though he did

By Katie Lobosco, CNN Washington (CNN) — Even though the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, more debt will be canceled during his time in office than under any other president. The Biden administration has already canceled a record $66 billion in student loan debt for nearly 2.2 million borrowers.

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — As several state legislative sessions have concluded or are drawing to a close, some of the high-profile legislation enacted by state lawmakers is just taking effect. Many states saw particularly polarizing sessions, with Democrats and Republican state lawmakers moving in opposite directions on abortion- and LGBTQ-related legislation. Several GOP-led

By Kevin Liptak and Arlette Saenz, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden wasn’t planning to take questions on Thursday. His helicopter was waiting outside on the White House’s South Lawn. But after a 10-minute statement on the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling, a CNN reporter called out, “Is this a rogue court?” The president stopped

By Casey Gannon (CNN) — A man arrested with multiple firearms and materials to make explosives in former President Barack Obama’s Washington, DC, neighborhood will remain in custody ahead of his detention hearing next week, a federal magistrate judge said Friday. Taylor Taranto, 37, was arrested Thursday and is facing four misdemeanor charges related to

By Devan Cole, CNN Washington (CNN) — The Supreme Court’s decision in favor of a Christian web designer in Colorado who refuses to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings out of religious objections will have a far-reaching impact on other minority groups and could open the door to a slew of cases seeking to further

By Dianne Gallagher, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge will allow a ban on most abortions in North Carolina after 12 weeks of pregnancy to go into effect on Saturday but temporarily blocked one provision included in the law. US District Court Judge Catherine Eagles on Friday issued a narrow temporary restraining order putting on

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Several families in Georgia sued the state on Thursday over its ban on certain gender-affirming treatments for transgender youth, launching a last-minute effort to block the prohibitions just hours before it’s set to take effect. The law signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in March bars licensed medical professionals

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Hunter Biden’s lawyer lashed out Friday against the IRS whistleblowers who testified to Congress that the president’s son received preferential treatment from the Justice Department during his criminal investigation. The lawyer was publicly pushing back against claims from two IRS agents that the Justice Department officials slow-walked the criminal

By Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood, CNN (CNN) — The US State Department on Friday released its long-awaited Afghanistan After Action Review report, which found that both the Trump and Biden administrations’ decisions to pull all US troops from Afghanistan had detrimental consequences, and details damning shortcomings by the current administration that led to the

By Katie Lobosco, CNN Washington (CNN) — After a more than three-year pause, borrowers will have to restart paying their federal student loan bills in October. The Biden administration had intended to cancel up to $20,000 of student debt for millions of borrowers before payments resumed, but its proposed student loan forgiveness program was struck

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter (CNN) — The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a federal law that bars an individual subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm, adding a major Second Amendment case to next term’s docket. A federal appeals court invalidated the law in March

By Ariane de Vogue and Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court Friday ruled in favor of a Christian web designer in Colorado who refuses to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings out of religious objections. The 6-3 decision was penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices

By Blake Ellis, Melanie Hicken and Audrey Ash, CNN (CNN) — A secret investigation into alleged sexual abuse at the US Coast Guard Academy, the training ground for the Coast Guard’s top officers, uncovered a dark history of rapes, assaults and other serious misconduct being ignored and, at times, covered up by high-ranking officials. The

By Gregory Krieg, CNN (CNN) — Leading Republican presidential candidates are making their cases at the Moms for Liberty summit in Philadelphia on Friday and Saturday, a sign of the right-wing group’s growing influence in GOP national politics. Former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov.

By Lauren Fox, CNN (CNN) — House Republicans are furiously working through the recess to shore up support on a series of spending bills leaders hope to put on the floor as soon as July, another critical test for Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s struggle to hold onto his right flank and make good on a series

By Simone McCarthy and Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed the United States earlier this year before it was shot down did not collect intelligence while flying over the country, the Pentagon said Thursday. Steps taken by Washington to stop the high altitude device from potential information gathering as it

By Dianne Gallagher and Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature has advanced a bill that would ban certain gender-affirming care for minors to the governor’s desk. The state’s House voted to pass the bill Wednesday along party lines after it cleared the state Senate earlier this week. The measure now awaits a

By Dianne Gallagher, CNN (CNN) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law significant changes to the state’s recently passed 12-week abortion ban, just hours before it is set to take effect Saturday. Earlier this week, the state’s Republican-controlled legislature advanced House Bill 190 – an unrelated measure focusing on the Department of Health

By Zachary Cohen and Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — Former Donald Trump campaign official Mike Roman is cooperating with prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s team in the ongoing criminal probe related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. One of the sources said that the agreement,

By Holmes Lybrand, John Miller and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — A man with numerous firearms and materials to make an explosive was arrested Thursday in former President Barack Obama’s Washington, DC, neighborhood after claiming on an internet livestream that he had a detonator, law enforcement officials told CNN. Taylor Taranto, who had an open

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Senior Legal Analyst (CNN) — As he began reading excerpts of his decision eviscerating college affirmative action, in a hushed courtroom Thursday, Chief Justice John Roberts delivered on a singular long-held goal. He had won a majority to roll back 45 years of Supreme Court precedent to further his view that

By Josh Campbell, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge in Mississippi ruled in favor of a convicted felon in a gun case on Wednesday while simultaneously slamming a recent landmark Second Amendment decision that expanded gun rights and changed the framework lower courts must use as they analyze firearm restrictions. In his ruling, Judge Carlton

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — The influential network associated with conservative billionaire Charles Koch has collected more than $70 million for political races, the group announced Thursday, as it gears up to help shape the outcome of next year’s contests up and down the ballot and encourage Republican voters to bypass former President Donald

By Natasha Bertrand, CNN Washington (CNN) — The Biden administration is strongly considering approving the transfer of controversial cluster munition warheads to Ukraine, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN, as the Ukrainians struggle to make major gains in their weeks’ old counteroffensive. Officials told CNN that a final decision is expected soon from

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court’s landmark decision on Thursday to gut affirmative action has made it unlawful for colleges to take race into consideration as a specific factor in admissions. The ruling means that admissions programs like those at the two universities at the center of the case, Harvard University

By Kylie Atwood, Alex Marquardt, Jeremy Herb and Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Rob Malley, the US special envoy on Iran, has been placed on leave without pay, which occurred after his security clearance was suspended earlier this year amid an investigation into his handling of classified material, multiple sources told CNN. A US official

By Sydney Kashiwagi, CNN (CNN) — A former Republican speaker of Ohio’s House of Representatives was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for his role in a $60 million bribery scheme. Larry Householder was convicted by a federal grand jury in March on racketeering conspiracy charges in connection with a scheme to accept bribes

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — At least 100,000 people could have had their data compromised by a hack of contractors at the Department of Health and Human Services, a department official said Thursday, making it the latest US government agency to be caught up in a sweeping cyberattack connected to Russian cybercriminals. HHS notified

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge denied Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, finding the former president’s legal arguments are “without merit.” Trump filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss Carroll’s original defamation lawsuit filed in 2019. He argued he was entitled to immunity because he was

By Marshall Cohen (CNN) — Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has settled his child support case in Arkansas, reaching an agreement with the mother of one of his children and resolving a dispute that became a legal headache for him in recent months. The settlement was announced in a court filing Thursday

By Jeremy Diamond, Kevin Liptak and Arlette Saenz, CNN (CNN) — The White House has been preparing for months for a potential Supreme Court ruling gutting affirmative action, even as President Joe Biden expressed optimism late last year that the court would uphold consideration of race in college admissions. Biden on Thursday directed the Department