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Senate votes to confirm Marco Rubio as secretary of state, first Trump Cabinet official to be approved

By Clare Foran, CNN The Senate voted on Monday to confirm Marco Rubio as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, the first high-level Cabinet official for the new administration to be approved by the chamber. The confirmation vote took place just hours after Trump was sworn in as president. The overwhelmingly bipartisan vote was 99

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Trump commutes sentences of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders as he pardons over 1,000 January 6 US Capitol rioters

By Marshall Cohen, Evan Perez, Paula Reid, Hannah Rabinowitz and Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned more than 1,000 people charged in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, and commuted the sentences of leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. “These are the hostages,” Trump said

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Trump signs sweeping executive actions on immigration, launches fight to end birthright citizenship

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump began his term by taking a series of sweeping immigration executive actions Monday that included declaring a national emergency at the US southern border, immediately ending use of a border app called CBP One that had allowed migrants to legally enter the United States, and

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Biden issues preemptive pardons for Trump critics and Biden family members

By Kevin Liptak and Arlette Saenz, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden on Monday issued an extraordinary slate of preemptive pardons for prominent critics of President-elect Donald Trump and members of his own family, using executive prerogative as a shield against revenge by his incoming successor while also guaranteeing his closest relatives aren’t subject

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Trump’s team outlines suite of executive orders to top lawmakers ahead of his first day as president

By Phil Mattingly, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump will quickly implement executive actions on immigration, energy policy and federal government operations to check off dozens of campaign policy priorities. Trump on Sunday pledged to issue “close to 100” executive orders on his first day in office. Many of these orders will be designed to

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Trump says mass deportations will happen quickly, stresses importance of Israel-Hamas deal in wide-ranging NBC News interview

By Aaron Pellish, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump said mass deportations will begin “very quickly” after taking office, one of a number of plans he discussed in a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday. As Trump prepares to be sworn in Monday, the president-elect also told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that

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Since Donald Trump last entered the White House, the Supreme Court created a more powerful president

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — When the Supreme Court justices first shared an inaugural stage with Donald Trump, they heard the new president deliver a 16-minute declaration against the country and vow, “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.” Afterward, when they returned to a chamber on the

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Former CIA analyst pleads guilty to leaking classified documents on Israel’s plans to attack Iran

By Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — A former CIA analyst pleaded guilty to leaking classified documents about Israel’s preparations to attack Iran late-last year, according to the Department of Justice. Asif William Rahman had been employed by the CIA since 2016 and held a top secret security clearance with access to sensitive compartmented information, some

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Trump’s inauguration to be moved indoors

CNN By Kate Sullivan, Alayna Treene, Kaitlan Collins and Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be moved indoors, he announced Friday, due to dangerously cold temperatures projected in the nation’s capital. “I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States

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Trump’s inauguration to be moved indoors

By Kate Sullivan, Alayna Treene, Kaitlan Collins and Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be moved indoors, he announced Friday, due to dangerously cold temperatures projected in the nation’s capital. “I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol

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Biden says Equal Rights Amendment is ratified, kicking off expected legal battle as he pushes through final executive actions

By Betsy Klein and Arlette Saenz, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden announced a major opinion Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment is ratified, enshrining its protections into the Constitution, a last-minute move that some believe could pave the way to bolstering reproductive rights. It will, however, certainly draw swift legal challenges – and

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‘Hopefully, I’ll run into a few friendly faces’: US Capitol rioters return to DC to celebrate Trump inauguration

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Some rioters charged or convicted in the 2021 attack on the US Capitol are returning to Washington, DC, for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to court filings in a dozen cases and multiple sources familiar with the matter. But some federal judges also recently blocked a handful of other

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Trump tees up aggressive immigration push in first hours of administration

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN Washington (CNN) — Donald Trump’s team is finalizing an aggressive slate of immigration executive orders that are expected to be released only hours after the president-elect is sworn in, kicking off an immigration crackdown that will have implications for people nationwide, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. The package

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Biden commutes sentences for nearly 2,500 non-violent drug offenders convicted on crack cocaine-related charges

By Samantha Waldenberg, Alejandra Jaramillo and Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden is granting clemency for nearly 2,500 non-violent drug offenders in his final days in office, placing a focus on sentencing disparities for crack cocaine-related crimes. “Today, I am commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses who

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Merrick Garland says farewell to the Justice Department with praise, encouragement and an urgent warning for staffers

By Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — After a tumultuous tenure clouded by two failed criminal prosecutions against the incoming president, Attorney General Merrick Garland is leaving the Justice Department the same way he came in: trying to defend it against political attacks. Garland, a once-beloved appellate judge whose nomination to the Supreme

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Takeaways from Day 3 of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominee hearings

By Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — Thursday’s trio of confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees put the focus squarely on Trump’s domestic and economic agenda, which will dominate the debates on Capitol Hill this year. None of the nominees appearing Thursday before the Senate – Scott Bessent at Treasury, Doug Burgum at Interior

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Biden warned of oligarchs. Some officials worry he may have helped create one.

By Kayla Tausche, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden’s warnings Wednesday night about social media misinformation, the tech-industrial complex and the concentration of wealth and power struck many as a not-so-subtle shot across the bow at Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who’s also become President-elect Donald Trump’s closest consigliere. But within the White

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Trump assembles an administration of uber-wealthy Cabinet members and advisers, sparking ethics questions

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — Wealthy hedge fund executive Scott Bessent – whose confirmation hearing for treasury secretary is slated for Thursday – has hundreds of millions of dollars in assets and owns property from North Dakota to the Bahamas. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice as the No. 2 official at the Pentagon, billionaire Steve

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How the Biden and Trump teams worked together to get the Gaza ceasefire and hostages deal done

By Kevin Liptak, Michael Williams, Nikki Carvajal, Alayna Treene and Arlette Saenz, CNN Washington (CNN) — When Qatar’s prime minister emerged Wednesday to declare — at long last — that a ceasefire-for-hostage deal had been struck in Gaza, representatives for two American administrations were on hand in Doha to bask in the victory. The cooperation

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Jill Biden expresses disappointment with Pelosi: ‘We were friends for 50 years’

By Arlette Saenz, CNN Washington (CNN) — First lady Jill Biden expressed her disappointment with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a new interview with The Washington Post, providing rare public comments about the fractured relationship between her husband, Joe Biden, and Pelosi following the president’s departure from the 2024 race. “We were friends for

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Defense Secretary Austin’s secrecy around his hospitalizations increased the risks to national security, watchdog says

By Natasha Bertrand, CNN Washington (CNN) — The secrecy surrounding Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s hospitalizations in late 2023 and early 2024 “increased unnecessarily” the risks to US national security, the Pentagon’s inspector general concluded in a report released on Wednesday. The nearly year-long review — which the IG says examined more than 56 million

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Trump and Biden national and homeland security staff will meet Wednesday for threat exercises

By Sean Lyngaas, Priscilla Alvarez and Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks and top national security staff are expected to meet Wednesday with President Joe Biden’s National Security Council in the White House to walk through how the US government responds to a range of homeland security threats and

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Michelle Obama to skip Trump inauguration

CNN By Kevin Liptak, CNN Washington (CNN) — Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend Donald Trump’s inauguration next week, her office said Tuesday, without providing an explanation for her decision. “Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,”

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Mitt Romney Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research (CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of Mitt Romney, former US senator from Utah. Romney is also a former governor of Massachusetts and 2012 Republican presidential nominee. Personal Birth date: March 12, 1947 Birth place: Detroit, Michigan Birth name: Willard Mitt Romney Father: George W. Romney, former governor of Michigan

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Beto O’Rourke Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research (CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of former US Representative Beto O’Rourke. Personal Birth date: September 26, 1972 Birth place: El Paso, Texas Birth name: Robert Francis O’Rourke Father: Patrick O’Rourke, former county commissioner and El Paso county judge Mother: Melissa O’Rourke, furniture store owner Marriage: Amy (Hoover Sanders) O’Rourke

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Takeaways from special counsel Jack Smith’s report on January 6 and Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election

By Dan Berman, Marshall Cohen, Katelyn Polantz and Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — The evidence was there to convict Donald Trump. That’s the simple and powerful conclusion from former special counsel Jack Smith in his final report on Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election culminating in the January 6, 2021, attack on the

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Michelle Obama to skip Trump inauguration

By Kevin Liptak, CNN Washington (CNN) — Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend Donald Trump’s inauguration next week, her office said Tuesday, without providing an explanation for her decision. “Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,” a

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