Politics

By Holmes Lybrand, Annie Grayer, Manu Raju, CNN (CNN) — Attorney General Pam Bondi obtained Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s search history of the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files and even President Donald Trump’s most powerful ally in Congress has a problem with it. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday said the Justice Department’s tracking of lawmakers’

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Thursday shut down Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempts to punish Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over his urging of US service members to refuse illegal orders, ruling that the Pentagon chief’s actions were unconstitutionally retaliatory. The decision landed two days after a grand jury in Washington,

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — US military forces have departed a strategic military garrison in Syria after more than a decade “as part of a deliberate and conditions-based transition” to a smaller US footprint in the country, US Central Command said on Thursday. The US troops at al-Tanf garrison had primarily been

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — Gail Slater, who ran the antitrust division for the Justice Department for nearly a year, was forced out by the Trump administration this week, two people familiar with the matter told CNN. Slater, who suggested in a post on X Thursday she was leaving on her own, had been

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security has been ensnared by a partial government shutdown that began February 14, after Congress failed to fund the agency. But nearly all DHS workers will remain on the job — even if many won’t get paid until the lapse ends. Overall, much of the

By Jennifer Agiesta, CNN (CNN) — Gallup, one of the country’s most well-known polling firms, announced Wednesday that it will no longer track presidential approval or favorability of political figures. The move ends the longest-running continuous effort to track US opinion of the nation’s president, dating back to the tenure of Franklin D. Roosevelt in

By Annie Grayer, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — The budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency that upended the federal government at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term has stalled out on Capitol Hill, a reality that’s left conservative lawmakers fuming. Inside the White House, the cost-cutting crusade marked by mass firings and blanket funding

By Donald Judd, CNN (CNN) — The chairman of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission said Wednesday that he ousted a member of the commission after she sparred with fellow members during a contentious public hearing on antisemitism. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who chairs the commission, said on X that it was his call

By Donald Judd, CNN (CNN) — The National Governors Association said Wednesday that a traditionally bipartisan meeting at the White House next week is back on after invitations were extended to all of its members, even as President Donald Trump continued to rage against two of the nation’s Democratic governors and the organization’s co-chair, GOP

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department’s ongoing struggle with redactions in the released records related to Jeffrey Epstein continued Wednesday when it was discovered that the face of an undercover FBI employee was left uncovered in a video. The department requested CNN make the face of an undercover person unidentifiable in a

By Lauren Fox, Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Republicans’ warning for President Donald Trump is growing louder with the Department of Homeland Security set to shut down in just days: Don’t feel public pressure to relent on an issue central to his campaign. Even as the White House has engaged with Democrats over reforms to

By Sarah Ferris, Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN (CNN) — In a vote that GOP leaders fought hard to avoid, a half dozen Republicans sent a blunt message to President Donald Trump that they do not support the tariff regime that he has made the centerpiece of his second term. Six Republicans joined with Democrats in the

By David Wright, CNN (CNN) — “He’s running from his past, while ICE is in our communities,” the ad’s narrator says. The target of the ad is Alex Bores, a congressional candidate in New York City who used to work for Palantir, the tech company with long ties to defense and intelligence agencies. An image

By Veronica Stracqualursi, Alison Main, CNN (CNN) — Speaker Mike Johnson failed to reinstate a ban on lawmakers’ ability to challenge President Donald Trump’s tariffs when three Republicans crossed party lines to vote with Democrats. The House sank a procedural vote on Tuesday that contained language blocking votes in the chamber that object to Trump’s

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — A federal grand jury on Tuesday declined to indict Democratic lawmakers who posted a video urging service members and intelligence officials to disobey any illegal orders from the Trump administration, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department’s case focused on a

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has removed an LGBTQ Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, the United States’ first national monument to LGBTQ rights, following a directive restricting what kinds of flags can be flown on National Park sites. The removal is the latest change

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump threatened in a Monday social media post to block the opening of a major new US-Canada bridge over the Detroit River. But Trump’s post about the Gordie Howe International Bridge included misleading claims and important omissions – even if you ignore his laughable claim that, if

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — Newly unsealed court documents reveal that longtime skeptics of the 2020 election results played a key role in the sweeping search warrant the FBI obtained to seize ballots and other materials from Fulton County, Georgia — a major target of President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn his defeat. The

By Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — With the Trump administration’s mass deportation push under intense scrutiny, the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services faced tough questions during a congressional committee hearing on Tuesday. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott and USCIS Director

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance’s X account posted and then deleted a recognition of the Armenian genocide after he paid his respects at a memorial in the country on Tuesday. The original post from the vice president’s account — which said Vance and second lady Usha Vance attended a wreath-laying

By Molly English, Dana Bash, David Wright, Arit John, CNN (CNN) — Analilia Mejia will win the special primary in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District in a tight race over former Rep. Tom Malinowski, a major win for an ally of Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressives. Malinowski conceded on Tuesday in a statement in

By Samantha Waldenberg, Kevin Liptak, Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — Shortly after the law enforcement investigation into Jeffrey Epstein became public in the mid-2000s, Donald Trump called the Palm Beach, Florida, Police Department to express gratitude, according to a newly released document. “Thank goodness you’re stopping him,” Trump said, according to the document. “Everyone has

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — In some two dozen cases stemming from President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota that CNN has reviewed, federal judges appointed to the bench by Democrats and Republicans have had to use terms like “contempt” and “noncompliance” to get the government’s attention to respond to court orders. To date,

By Lex Harvey, Samantha Waldenberg, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump threatened Monday to block the opening of a new bridge connecting the US and Canada, again lashing out at his country’s northern neighbor over a range of economic issues as the rift between Washington and Ottawa deepens. Trump said he would “not allow” the

By Piper HudspethBlackburn, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration will need to unfreeze more than $16 billion earmarked for a major New York infrastructure project by Thursday unless a federal appeals court allows the government to continue withholding the funds, a federal judge ruled Monday. Judge Jeannette Vargas in the Southern District of New York

By Michael Williams, Aileen Graef, CNN (CNN) — As the Justice Department faced mounting pressure to release the Epstein files last year, FBI employees were compiling what one described as “salacious” allegations against men in Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit and putting together a presentation that included a list of “prominent names” in the investigative files. The

CNN By Alexandra Banner, CNN It’s Day 4 of the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, where nine gold medals will be decided over the coming hours. Take a look at today’s action-packed schedule of events. Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day. 1️⃣ Nancy Guthrie

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge in California on Monday temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its ban on most law enforcement officers from wearing masks during operations. US District Judge Christina Snyder in Los Angeles granted the Trump administration’s request for a preliminary injunction, finding that the ban “unlawfully discriminates”

CNN By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The US military conducted a strike against another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing two people with one survivor, according to US Southern Command. “On Feb. 9, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The US military conducted a strike against another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing two people with one survivor, according to US Southern Command. “On Feb. 9, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted

By Annie Grayer, Ellis Kim, CNN (CNN) — Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna charged Monday that powerful men are being protected by redactions to the Epstein files after viewing the documents in full. “What I saw that bothered me were the names of at least six men that have been redacted that are likely

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — Turning Point Action has endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in one of the GOP’s nastiest primary battles, supporting the controversial, conservative firebrand in his bid to unseat longtime Sen. John Cornyn. Paxton announced the endorsement on X, noting he felt “honored” to be supported by the group,

By Evan Perez, Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — For two hours inside a classified Congressional hearing last week, Republican and Democrat Senators grew increasingly exasperated as officials from the FBI, the National Security Agency and other agencies refused to say whether the Trump administration wants Congress to renew a powerful foreign surveillance law that is

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Federal prosecutors on Monday moved to drop a criminal case brought during the Biden administration against Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump who was convicted years ago for thumbing his nose at lawmakers investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In a request to the federal

Associated Press (CNN) — US military forces boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the ship from the Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon said Monday. The Pentagon’s statement on social media did not say whether the ship was connected to Venezuela, which faces US sanctions on its oil and has relied on

CNN By Hanna Park, Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump – who skipped the Super Bowl and instead attended a watch party in Florida – denounced Bad Bunny’s halftime performance as “a slap in the face” and said “nobody understands a word” the Puerto Rican rapper was saying. “The Super Bowl Halftime Show

By Hanna Park, Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump – who skipped the Super Bowl and instead attended a watch party in Florida – denounced Bad Bunny’s halftime performance as “a slap in the face” and said “nobody understands a word” the Puerto Rican rapper was saying. “The Super Bowl Halftime Show is

By Kit Maher, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump called Olympic skier Hunter Hess a “real loser” on Sunday after the athlete expressed “mixed emotions representing the US right now” in the Winter Olympic Games. “U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,”

By Alison Main, Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, a co-author of the law that compelled the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, on Sunday called on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to resign over his links to the late sex offender. Asked on CNN’s “Inside Politics” if Lutnick – who the files

By Manu Raju, Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Top Senate Republicans are ratcheting up pressure on President Donald Trump to pick a side in the party’s nastiest primary battles before it’s too late, with anxiety spiking as the midterm cycle threatens to turn sour for the GOP. GOP leaders are making a last-ditch push for

By Kit Maher, Aleena Fayaz, CNN (CNN) — The top lawyer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota has left the agency, the same week an ICE attorney was removed after telling a district judge that “this job sucks” and that the Trump administration is “overwhelmed” with immigration cases. Chief Counsel Jim Stolley retired after

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — A federal grand jury indicted a 33-year-old Ohio man on Friday with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance with an automatic weapon, the Justice Department said in a news release, as the US grapples with rising political violence and threats. Shannon Mathre of Toledo is accused of saying,

By Camila DeChalus, Aleena Fayaz, CNN (CNN) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to endorse Jack Schlossberg in his run for a hotly contested US House seat, according to a source familiar with the matter. Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy’s grandson and a cousin of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is planning its first meeting of the “Board of Peace” this month in Washington, according to a US official and a diplomat from an invited country, as the multinational organization tasked with resolving global conflicts faces lingering questions about its broader mission. The US sent invites

By Kylie Atwood, Tal Shalev, Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner visited the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier Saturday morning after completing talks with Iran on Friday. Kushner and Witkoff were invited to visit the carrier, which is part of the Lincoln Carrier Strike

By Paula Reid, Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — A rift between two of President Donald Trump’s favorite prosecutors came to a head at the start of the year, when Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the president’s former personal lawyer, removed MAGA firebrand Ed Martin from a key post investigating the president’s political enemies.

By Lauren Fox, Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Kentucky may be the last place in America where you can take on President Donald Trump as a hard-right Republican and carry a GOP voting card in Congress. At least for now. A pair of twangy Kentucky rebels – Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul –

By Arit John, David Wright, CNN (CNN) — During a forum last month, Analilia Mejia was the only person running in the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 11th District who raised her hand when asked if she agreed with human rights groups that say Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza, a charge the Israeli

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — A divided federal appeals court on Friday ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s policy of detaining millions of undocumented immigrants, even those who have been living in the US for decades, without the opportunity to challenge their detention, handing President Donald Trump a major win as he seeks

By Betsy Klein, Jeff Zeleny, CNN (CNN) — Every year, the nation’s governors convene in Washington, DC, for a friendly winter confab that includes a working meeting at the White House and a black-tie dinner hosted by the president. This year, President Donald Trump is adjusting the guest list for the long, bipartisan tradition. Democratic

By Aleena Fayaz, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge in New York ruled Friday that the Trump administration must unfreeze more than $16 billion earmarked for a major New York infrastructure project and allow construction to continue, saying that public interest would be “harmed by a delay.” The temporary restraining order granted by US District

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — At the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, President Donald Trump spoke from prepared remarks as he discussed the persecution of Mariam Ibrahim. Ibrahim was unjustly imprisoned and sentenced to death in Sudan in 2014, in a case centered on her Christian faith, until she was released that same year

By Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, CNN (CNN) — The United States on Friday accused China of carrying out a secret nuclear test in 2020 as the Trump administration calls for a broader nuclear weapons agreement including both China and Russia. The allegation comes a day after the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is named on a flight manifest found among millions of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that have been released in recent months, showing that he flew in 2006 from London to New York on Epstein’s private plane. The manifest lists

By Sean Lyngaas, Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — State and local election administrators’ growing suspicion of the Trump administration’s motives has triggered concerns among some federal officials that distrust of even routine moves by the FBI could hinder cooperation with states and give an opening for US adversaries trying to influence elections. An FBI official

CNN By Adam Cancryn, Alayna Treene, Alejandra Jaramillo, Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump shared a racist video on his social media platform Thursday night that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle, then removed it hours later amid bipartisan outrage, including from a

By Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — The head of the coordinating committee for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles is facing calls to step down after emails released by the Justice Department last week show he exchanged racy messages with Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago. The messages between Casey Wasserman – who,

By Kaanita Iyer, Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — Police have arrested a Maryland man for attempted murder after he allegedly went to Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought’s home, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Colin Demarco was arrested on January 16 in connection to an August 10, 2025, incident in

By Kathryn Squyres, CNN (CNN) — Among the people running to fill the seat vacated by former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of her former staffers, Jim Tully. Introducing himself on a local conservative radio show in January, he didn’t mention his connection to Greene until asked by the host. Tully said Greene’s

By Clare Foran, Rashard Rose, Camila DeChalus, CNN (CNN) — Four Democratic lawmakers are refusing to sit for interviews with the Justice Department related to their involvement in a video urging service members to disobey illegal orders. The move is a show of defiance by the group of congressional Democrats: Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin and

By Aleena Fayaz, CNN (CNN) — The US military conducted a strike against another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing two people, according to US Southern Command. “On Feb. 5, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike

By Manu Raju, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last month that he was finally prepared to drop his freeze on billions of dollars in funding for a major New York infrastructure project. But there was a condition: In exchange for the money, Schumer had to agree

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — When President Donald Trump claimed to NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas in a Wednesday interview that “I’m getting – starting to get great polls on the economy,” Llamas quickly pushed back by noting that Trump’s polling on the economy is “not great.” Trump immediately backed off his assertion, retreating to

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — In its latest effort to weaken the federal workforce, the Trump administration issued a rule on Thursday that would shift an estimated 50,000 senior career staffers into a new category that would make them easier to fire. The controversial rule allows agencies to reclassify federal employees involved in policy

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is planning to match teen competitors with celebrity coaches for the televised “Patriot Games” athletic contest, one of the events marking the United States’ 250th anniversary. A spokesperson for Freedom 250, the non-profit group leading the administration’s celebrations, provided new details to CNN after President

By Aleena Fayaz, CNN (CNN) — Marco Rubio now has one less critical role to worry about in the Trump administration. After nearly a year as acting archivist of the United States, Rubio’s tenure has ended. Rubio’s term expired with the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which limits the time an acting officer can remain in

By Molly English, Arit John, Kathryn Squyres, CNN (CNN) — The Democratic special primary in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District remains too early to call with progressive Analilia Mejia and former US Rep. Tom Malinowski locked in a tight race. Mejia was slightly ahead of Malinowski at the close of counting on Election Night. But

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN (CNN) — Kamala Harris is relaunching — part of her social media presence. The former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee on Thursday rebooted the KamalaHQ account, which has over 1 million followers on X and more than 5 million on TikTok, as just Headquarters, which in a partnership with

CNN, MS NOW, DOJ, GETTY IMAGES, FOX NEWS By Jeremy Herb, MJ Lee, Nicky Robertson, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department failed to black out identifying information about many of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and redacted the details of individuals who may have aided the convicted sex offender, prompting an outcry from survivors who accuse DOJ

By Jeremy Herb, MJ Lee, Nicky Robertson, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department failed to black out identifying information about many of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and redacted the details of individuals who may have aided the convicted sex offender, prompting an outcry from survivors who accuse DOJ of botching the release of more than 3

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — After intense criticism from some election officials after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was present during an FBI search of an elections office in Georgia last week, Gabbard defended her actions by pointing to a slew of intelligence laws and policies. “My presence was requested by the President

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — Justice Antonin Scalia’s sudden death 10 years ago this month reordered the Supreme Court, presidential politics and, as seen at the court today, invigorated the status of the man himself. Scalia, who died at age 79 at a Texas hunting lodge, was a conservative luminary, by

By Aleena Fayaz, CNN (CNN) — Brad Karp, the chairman of Paul Weiss, one of the most prominent corporate law firms in the country, abruptly resigned from his post Wednesday after newly released Jeffrey Epstein files revealed his email exchanges with the convicted sex offender, though he will remain at the firm. “Leading Paul, Weiss

By Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, CNN (CNN) — The expiration of the last remaining nuclear treaty between the United States and Russia on Thursday has sparked fears about a nuclear arms race, with the two biggest nuclear superpowers without limits on their arsenals for the first time in decades. “The worst case is it spirals

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — The Office of the Director of National Intelligence obtained voting machines from Puerto Rico and probed them for security vulnerabilities, the office said in a statement to CNN Wednesday. The extraordinary move comes amid Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s broader search for voter fraud at the behest of

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — One of the more emotional moments in first lady Melania Trump’s new documentary comes when she meets Aviva Siegel, a former hostage held by Hamas who’s advocating for the release of her husband, in January 2025. On Wednesday, Trump welcomed the couple to the White House, and told observers

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge was skeptical of President Donald Trump’s argument to try to move the appeal of his hush money conviction to federal court — after lawyers already took their shot in two other courts. Judge Alvin Hellerstein suggested Trump’s attorneys missed their chance by first taking the US

By Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — A complaint filed last year by a US intelligence community whistleblower that is now being scrutinized by lawmakers includes claims that the distribution of a highly classified intelligence report had been “restricted for political purposes” and that an intelligence agency lawyer had failed to report a potential crime to

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has promoted dozens of different lies about American elections. Some of them are relatively sophisticated. Some are transparently silly. House Speaker Mike Johnson is now promoting one of the very most laughable. In an interview that aired Monday, Trump said Republicans should “take over the voting”

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed California to use a new congressional map that will undermine President Donald Trump’s effort to keep control of the House of Representatives, marking a defeat for Republicans who claimed one of the new districts was redesigned based on race rather than politics. There

CNN By Randi Kaye, Holmes Lybrand, CNN Fort Pierce, Florida (CNN) — After plotting, stalking and lying in wait for the right moment to shoot and kill then-former President Donald Trump, the man who set up a sniper’s nest on the edge of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida and was thwarted by

By Devan Cole, Tierney Sneed, Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney detailed to Minnesota to help handle the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities has been removed from her post after telling a judge that the job “sucks” because of the crushing workload and the government’s apparent inability