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FBI releases ‘seeking information posters’ for two Iranian intelligence officers in case of abducted American

By Shania Shelton, CNN (CNN) — The FBI on Tuesday released “seeking information posters” for two Iranian intelligence officers who they believe were involved in the disappearance of former FBI agent Robert Levinson. The US has previously identified and sanctioned Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai in the disappearance and presumed death of Levinson, and Tuesday’s

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FBI turns over details of 5,000 employees who worked on January 6 cases to Trump Justice Department, as agents sue

By Josh Campbell, Evan Perez, Hannah Rabinowitz and Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — FBI officials have complied with demands to provide the Justice Department with details of thousands of employees who worked on investigations related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, according to people familiar with the situation. The demand has caused consternation

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Bill Cassidy faces pressure campaign from both sides ahead of key vote on whether to advance RFK Jr.’s nomination

By Annie Grayer and Lauren Fox, CNN Washington (CNN) — Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a former physician who has spent his career touting the safety of vaccines, will likely determine whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, becomes the country’s next Health and Human Services secretary. Cassidy, a former gastroenterologist with a

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Trump challenges Congress’ power with plan to shutter USAID, legal experts say

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump’s apparent plans to shutter the US Agency for International Development without congressional authority represent another unprecedented move by a president who, since taking office two weeks ago, has been testing the limits of his office by defying longstanding legal and political principles, legal experts told CNN. The

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Rubio says he’s acting director of USAID as humanitarian agency is taken over by the State Department

By Jennifer Hansler, Lauren Kent, Alex Marquardt and Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that he is acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development, confirming the de-facto takeover of the humanitarian agency by the State Department. Rubio said in a letter to lawmakers Monday he had delegated

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Education Department employees placed on paid leave as part of Trump administration’s DEI purge

By Alayna Treene, Rene Marsh and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN (CNN) — Dozens of employees at the Education Department were placed on paid administrative leave Friday as part of the Trump administration’s larger effort to rid the federal workforce of employees associated with diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts, two sources familiar with the move told

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How the Trump administration is building out its immigration enforcement machine

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump has quickly mobilized wide swaths of the federal government to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants in the United States, part of a broader strategy to amass a large enforcement machine. The administration has sent troops to the US-Mexico border, utilized military aircraft to repatriate recent

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Trump announces significant new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, sparking retaliatory actions

By Samantha Waldenberg, Kevin Liptak, Alayna Treene and David Goldman, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump announced extraordinary new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China — signing the long-promised economic policy at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday. The Trump administration said tariffs are aimed at curbing the flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants into the

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Trump’s allies trying to shore up support for RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard following confirmation hearings

By Alayna Treene and Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s allies, including Vice President JD Vance, are making calls to shore up support for both Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard following their confirmation hearings this week, two sources familiar with the situation told CNN. Kennedy, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department

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Exclusive: NTSB fought to retain employees after Trump’s federal worker resignation offer

By Pete Muntean, CNN (CNN) — In the wake of the worst American air disaster in two decades, the understaffed and cash-strapped National Transportation Safety Board was scrambling to keep investigators from leaving after federal employees received an offer by the Trump administration to resign and be paid through September. An internal NTSB memo informed

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Democrats pick Minnesota’s Ken Martin as new chair as party grapples with Trump’s flurry of actions

By Arit John, CNN (CNN) — Ken Martin, the head of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, was decisively elected chair of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday, beating a crowded field in the first round of voting to become the new face of a party struggling to find its footing during the second Trump administration. Martin,

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Rubio heads to Central America as Trump admin attempts crack down on migration to US

By Jennifer Hansler and Priscilla Alvarez, CNN (CNN) — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Panama Saturday for his first trip as the United States’ top diplomat that that will test if his diplomacy can build on President Donald Trump’s bellicose and transactional approach to “American First” foreign policy, particularly on migration. Rubio’s

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Trump DOJ demands list of thousands of FBI agents, others who worked on Jan. 6 and Trump investigations for possible firing

CNN By Evan Perez, Josh Campbell and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is set to expand a purge of career law enforcement officials, demanding the names of those who worked on January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack and Trump-related investigations for potential removal – a move that could affect thousands. Leaders of

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US government agencies order employees to remove gender pronouns from email signatures

By Jennifer Hansler, Katie Bo Lillis, Zachary Cohen, Sam Simpson and Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — Multiple US government agencies have ordered employees “to remove gender identifying pronouns from email signature blocks by 5:00 PM” on Friday, according to internal emails seen by CNN. Directives were sent out to employees at agencies including the State

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Trump DOJ demands list of thousands of FBI agents, others who worked on Jan. 6 and Trump investigations for possible firing

By Evan Perez, Josh Campbell and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is set to expand a purge of career law enforcement officials, demanding the names of those who worked on January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack and Trump-related investigations for potential removal – a move that could affect thousands. Leaders of the

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How Trump calling immigration an ‘invasion’ could help him stretch the law

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — No longer just campaign trail rhetoric, President Donald Trump’s insistence that immigration to the United States amounts to an “invasion” may be critical to unlocking extraordinary powers as the administration carries out his deportation agenda. Multiple executive orders and agency memos use the word “invasion” to describe why Trump

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Trump said he hadn’t read Project 2025 – but most of his early executive actions overlap with its proposals

By Steve Contorno and Casey Tolan, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump caught his own administration off guard last week by suggesting that the nation’s primary disaster response agency might simply “go away.” Though Trump had routinely lambasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency throughout his third White House bid, he had stopped short of calling

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Gabbard’s dodges on whether she thinks Snowden is a traitor exacerbate questions about her confirmation chances

CNN By Katie Bo Lillis, CNN (CNN) — In 2020, then-Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard introduced legislation calling on the federal government to drop all charges against Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor who in 2013 revealed the existence of the bulk collection of American phone records by the NSA before fleeing to Russia. On

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Gabbard’s dodges on whether she thinks Snowden is a traitor exacerbate questions about her confirmation chances

By Katie Bo Lillis, CNN (CNN) — In 2020, then-Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard introduced legislation calling on the federal government to drop all charges against Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor who in 2013 revealed the existence of the bulk collection of American phone records by the NSA before fleeing to Russia. On Thursday,

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Fact check: Trump’s FAA used the same language about hiring people with disabilities he’s now blasting

By Daniel Dale, CNN Washington (CNN) — During his Thursday press conference about the deadly Wednesday collision between a passenger jet and military helicopter near Reagan National Airport, President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested there was a link between the tragedy and diversity hiring policies at the Federal Aviation Administration. It’s most important to note that

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Takeaways from FBI director nominee Kash Patel’s combative confirmation hearing

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s pick to run the FBI, Kash Patel, downplayed his past promotion of right-wing conspiracy theories and his pledges to pursue retribution against Trump’s opponents on Thursday at his combative Senate confirmation hearing. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee tried to pin down Patel over past comments

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Trump’s Cabinet nominees face sharpest bipartisan grilling to date and other takeaways from Thursday’s confirmation hearings

By Jeremy Herb, Katie Bo Lillis, Annie Grayer and Lauren Fox, CNN Washington (CNN) — Three of President Donald Trump’s most controversial nominees faced sharp questions in the Senate during hearings Thursday from Democrats as well as several Republican senators in what amounted to the most direct skepticism from GOP senators over Trump’s nominees to

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Trump’s Cabinet nominees face sharpest bipartisan grilling to date and other takeaways from Thursday’s confirmation hearings

CNN By Jeremy Herb, Katie Bo Lillis, Annie Grayer and Lauren Fox, CNN Washington (CNN) — Three of President Donald Trump’s most controversial nominees faced sharp questions in the Senate during hearings Thursday from Democrats as well as several Republican senators in what amounted to the most direct skepticism from GOP senators over Trump’s nominees

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People on Kash Patel’s so-called ‘enemies list’ taking drastic steps for protection before his potential FBI takeover

By Annie Grayer and Marshall Cohen, CNN Washington (CNN) — One of the people on Kash Patel’s list of “corrupt actors” from the “deep state” is taking the drastic step of moving their family before Patel’s potential confirmation to lead the FBI. The individual, granted anonymity to speak freely about security measures, decided to relocate

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Inside 45 hours of chaos: The brief life and quick death of Trump’s federal spending freeze

By Jeremy Herb, Phil Mattingly, Jeff Zeleny and Alayna Treene, CNN Washington, DC (CNN) — The Trump administration’s biggest swing at radically reshaping federal spending lasted just under 45 hours. A sweeping freeze on trillions in federal spending for grants and loans, issued Monday night by the White House budget office to federal agencies without fanfare,

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RFK Jr. clashes with Democrats over past comments about vaccines, abortion rights

CNN By Annie Grayer, CNN Washington (CNN) — Senate Democrats grilled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his various controversial statements including his stance on vaccines during his confirmation hearing to be President Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, and most left feeling overwhelmingly unsatisfied by the answers they received. The Democratic lawmakers confronted Kennedy

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RFK Jr. clashes with Democrats over past comments about vaccines, abortion rights

By Annie Grayer, CNN Washington (CNN) — Senate Democrats grilled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his various controversial statements including his stance on vaccines during his confirmation hearing to be President Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, and most left feeling overwhelmingly unsatisfied by the answers they received. The Democratic lawmakers confronted Kennedy with

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RFK Jr. clashes with Democrats over past comments about vaccines, abortion rights

CNN By Annie Grayer, CNN Washington (CNN) — Senate Democrats grilled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his various controversial statements including his stance on vaccines during his confirmation hearing to be President Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, and most left feeling overwhelmingly unsatisfied by the answers they received. The Democratic lawmakers confronted Kennedy

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RFK Jr. clashes with Democrats over past comments about vaccines, abortion rights

CNN By Annie Grayer, CNN Washington (CNN) — Senate Democrats grilled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his various controversial statements including his stance on vaccines during his confirmation hearing to be President Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, and most left feeling overwhelmingly unsatisfied by the answers they received. The Democratic lawmakers confronted Kennedy

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Fact check: $50 million for condoms in Gaza? Five big reasons to be skeptical Trump’s story is true

By Daniel Dale, Alex Marquardt and Jennifer Hansler, CNN Washington (CNN) — During her first official White House briefing as President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt announced that Trump had prevented a “preposterous waste of taxpayer money.” Trump’s team, she said, used the president’s pause on foreign aid to thwart a plan in which

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White House rescinds memo on federal aid freeze that caused widespread confusion

CNN By Kaitlan Collins, Alayna Treene and Samantha Waldenberg, CNN (CNN) — The White House Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday rescinded a memo that froze federal grants and loans and created widespread confusion this week. “OMB Memorandum M-25-13 is rescinded. If you have questions about implementing the President’s Executive Orders, please contact your

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Trump signs executive orders on school choice and school funding, and combatting antisemitism

By Kaitlan Collins, Rene Marsh, Samantha Waldenberg and Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on school funding Wednesday that fulfill promises he made on the campaign trail, including on school choice and ending funding for schools that support what the White House calls “radical indoctrination.” In the week and

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Justice Department drops case against Trump’s former co-defendants in classified documents investigation

By Devan Cole, Katelyn Polantz, Paula Reid and Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s administration is ending the case against his former co-defendants in the classified documents investigation brought by former special counsel Jack Smith. The Justice Department has stopped pursuing an appeal brought by Smith to revive the criminal charges against Trump’s

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RFK Jr.’s litany of controversial views to come under scrutiny in Senate confirmation hearing

By Em Steck and Winter Hawk, CNN (CNN) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will undergo intense scrutiny over his history of controversial and inflammatory comments at his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday to become President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary. Kennedy is expected to face tough questions from Democrats regarding his false claims

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Defense secretary revokes security detail and clearance for Trump critic Gen. Mark Milley, orders investigation

By Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday revoked the security detail and security clearance for Gen. Mark Milley, according to Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot, an unprecedented move against the former top US general who became a frequent target of President Donald Trump. Hegseth, in only his second full day on

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As humanitarian officials warn people could die as a result of Trump’s foreign aid halt, Rubio issues new waiver

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — Officials inside and outside of the US government are grappling with the fallout of the Trump administration’s sudden suspension of almost all foreign aid with some humanitarian officials warning that people will die as a result. The sweeping directive from Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pause nearly all

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Caroline Kennedy calls cousin RFK Jr. a ‘predator’ ahead of his confirmation hearings to be Trump’s health secretary

CNN By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Caroline Kennedy on Tuesday warned that her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a “predator” ahead of his high-profile confirmation hearings this week to be President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services secretary, urging senators to reject his nomination. Kennedy, who said she felt obligated to

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Trump’s spending freeze sets up a future possible Supreme Court showdown over presidential power

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s dramatic pause of federal grants and loans is queuing up a Supreme Court showdown over the Constitution that will test the court’s recently muscular commitment to curb executive power. Although the 6-3 conservative court has often sided with Trump, most notably granting him sweeping immunity from

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Caroline Kennedy calls cousin RFK Jr. a ‘predator’ ahead of his confirmation hearings to be Trump’s health secretary

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Caroline Kennedy on Tuesday warned that her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a “predator” ahead of his high-profile confirmation hearings this week to be President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services secretary, urging senators to reject his nomination. Kennedy, who said she felt obligated to speak

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Trump DOJ appointee in DC lashes out after flurry of ‘personally insulting’ leaks in his first week

By Marshall Cohen and Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — The acting top federal prosecutor in Washington under President Donald Trump is furious about recent leaks to the press and also specifically directed staff to scrutinize a former official’s work on January 6 cases after she rebuked him on TV, according to internal emails obtained by

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Senate Democrats block International Criminal Court sanctions bill in response to Netanyahu warrant

By Ted Barrett, CNN Washington (CNN) — Senate Democrats on Tuesday voted to filibuster a GOP-led bill to sanction International Criminal Court officials. The measure was designed to punish the ICC for issuing arrest warrants for top Israeli officials. The court issued those warrants last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense

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Trump’s ban on trans service members reignites a legal fight that wasn’t settled during his first term

By Devan Cole, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s decision on Monday to reprise a ban on transgender Americans serving in the military will reignite a legal fight over the controversial effort that was met with pushback by federal courts – but not definitively settled – during his first term. The executive order signed

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Intel officials spent years battling Kash Patel. Now he’s poised to take over a key agency

By Zachary Cohen, Jeremy Herb, Evan Perez and Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, has for years battled US intelligence agencies over the handling of some of the government’s most sensitive national security secrets. As a Republican congressional aide and Trump national security staffer, Patel fought

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Lawsuit alleges new Trump administration email system for federal employees raises privacy concerns

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A lawsuit brought by two federal employees alleges that the Trump administration has set up an email distribution system for the entire federal workforce that raises security concerns for workers’ private data. The lawsuit accuses the US Office of Personnel Management – which handles many personnel operations for the

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Key GOP senators want public commitments from RFK Jr. on abortion and vaccines during confirmation hearings

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Some GOP senators want public commitments from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before deciding whether to support him as the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, signaling that President Donald Trump’s pick will have to win over uncertain Republicans in order to secure the job. Republican

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Trump Justice Department fires officials who investigated Trump and launches ‘special project’ into January 6 cases

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Katelyn Polantz and Paula Reid, CNN (CNN) — More than a dozen officials who worked on the criminal investigations into Donald Trump have been fired, according to sources familiar with the matter. A letter from acting Attorney General James McHenry to the officials said they cannot be “trusted” to “faithfully” implement Trump’s

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Trump signs executive orders to reshape the military, including banning transgender troops

By Alayna Treene, Pamela Brown, Haley Britzky and Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Monday announced he had signed four executive orders that will reshape the military, including banning transgender service members from serving in the US armed forces; gutting the military’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and reinstating with back pay

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How Donald Trump’s dreams of a Florida casino could be dimmed by Ron DeSantis’ latest power play

By Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — A push by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to crack down on ballot initiatives could have unforeseen consequences for the business interests of his state’s most prominent resident: President Donald Trump. DeSantis, a Republican, has proposed a sweeping overhaul of citizen-led amendments to the state constitution — including new restrictions

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Latin American leaders are learning how to handle Trump. Colombia’s president showed how not to do it

CNN Analysis by Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana, Cuba (CNN) — A simmering diplomatic stand-off over deportation flights spilled onto social media Sunday, threatening the once close relationship between the United States and Colombia and further exposing the anxiety many feel in Latin America toward a second Trump presidency. Angered by how deportees were being returned

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