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Trump’s pick for DEA administrator withdraws from consideration

By Alejandra Jaramillo, Jack Forrest and Kate Sullivan, CNN (CNN) — Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff, has withdrawn from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, he announced Tuesday. “Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully

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Trump transition signs agreement with Justice Department, paving the way for FBI background checks on Trump picks

By Alejandra Jaramillo, Holmes Lybrand, Kaitlan Collins and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump’s transition team has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Justice Department, paving the way for the team to seek FBI background checks on the president-elect’s appointees. The agreement, announced by the Trump team on Tuesday, outlines the terms of

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Biden acknowledges horrific history of slavery that has connected the US and Angola while projecting optimism for future ties

By Sam Fossum and Arlette Saenz, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday acknowledged how the horrific history of slavery has connected the United States and Angola while delivering a hopeful vision for the future in a major speech from a country that was the point of departure for millions of enslaved Africans. “Our

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Democrats left fuming over Biden’s decision to pardon his son — after he repeatedly said he wouldn’t

By MJ Lee, Paula Reid and Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son has left some Democrats fuming over his choice to repeatedly and unequivocally claim that he would never take that step, even though a pardon long appeared possible to Hunter Biden’s legal team. Multiple officials who recently

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The New Yorker: Pete Hegseth forced out of veterans’ advocacy groups over misconduct allegations

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, was pushed out as the head of two veterans’ advocacy organizations amid internal allegations of mismanagement and personal misconduct, The New Yorker reported Sunday. A whistleblower report obtained by the magazine alleged that, during his time leading

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In transgender care case, Supreme Court to consider how far equal protection goes

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — When the Supreme Court hears an appeal Wednesday from transgender youths challenging a Tennessee ban on their medical care, fundamental principles forbidding sex discrimination will be on the line. The justices’ view of whether landmark decisions tracing back a half-century apply to transgender rights will affect

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Trump press secretary pick removed post praising Pence on January 6, then ran for Congress as an election denier

By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — Karoline Leavitt, President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, deleted two social media posts she shared after the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol — including a retweet praising then-Vice President Mike Pence for certifying the 2020 election. The post included a video of Pence calling

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President Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden

CNN By Marshall Cohen and Betsy Klein, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he has pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing this month for federal tax and gun convictions, marking a reversal as he prepares to leave office. “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” the president

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President Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden

CNN By Marshall Cohen and Betsy Klein, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he has pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing this month for federal tax and gun convictions, marking a reversal as he prepares to leave office. “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” the president

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Trump’s extraordinary selection of his daughters’ fathers-in-law for key posts underscores his reliance on family members

By Betsy Klein and Isabelle D’Antonio, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump has selected billionaire Massad Boulos to serve as his senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs — the second time in as many days the president-elect has chosen a family member for a key post. Though Trump didn’t mention it in his announcement

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Pentagon unlikely to use all of the billions Congress authorized it to spend on Ukraine weapons before Biden leaves office, officials say

By Oren Liebermann, Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bo Lillis and Alex Marquardt, CNN (CNN) — The Pentagon is unlikely to use all of the billions of dollars authorized by Congress to arm Ukraine before President Joe Biden leaves office, according to two US officials and three defense officials. The administration has less than two months left

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Trump transition team says several Cabinet picks targeted with bomb threats and swatting

By Kit Maher, Steve Contorno, Holmes Lybrand and Jeff Zeleny, CNN (CNN) — The Trump-Vance transition team said Wednesday that several of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks and administration appointees “were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them” Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. “These attacks ranged from bomb

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US to sanction Maduro-aligned officials, to put pressure on Venezuela’s president to accept election results

By Samantha Waldenberg and Stefano Pozzebon, CNN (CNN) — The United States announced new individual sanctions Wednesday on more than 20 officials aligned with Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, to put pressure on Maduro to accept the results of Venezuela’s July presidential election, senior administration officials said in a briefing with reporters. Thursday marks exactly

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Supreme Court’s transgender care fight creates conservative ‘reckoning’ over parental rights

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — Conservative groups have for years sought to reduce the government’s sway over parents’ childrearing choices, particularly when it comes to decisions about school and health care. But the Supreme Court’s upcoming and potentially explosive transgender care case is dividing conservatives, with many of those same groups backing Tennessee’s ban

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Trump team looks to allay GOP concerns about RFK Jr’s past support for abortion access

By Alayna Treene, Aaron Pellish, Kate Sullivan and Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump’s transition team is quietly strategizing how to assuage the anti-abortion wing of the Republican Party amid concerns that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s past comments supporting abortion access could complicate his confirmation as the president-elect’s pick to lead the Department of

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Trump tries to force other countries to negotiating table on immigration and trade with promise to hike tariffs

By Eric Bradner, Priscilla Alvarez and Kayla Tausche, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to impose massive tariffs was an early warning shot to try to force the hand of allies and adversaries to come to the negotiating table on immigration and trade issues, a transition official told CNN. Trump on Monday vowed hikes

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‘We enjoy this sometimes’: The rhetorical battle between Justices Alito and Kagan at the Supreme Court

CNN By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — The morning after Donald Trump was reelected president, Justices Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan began jousting more than usual. They personify the ideological and political gulf on America’s highest court. Alito, a 74-year-old Trenton, New Jersey, native is prepared to tear through decades-old landmarks, while

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What could get more expensive if Trump launches a new trade war with Mexico and Canada

CNN By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN New York (CNN) — During President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, America launched an all-out trade war with China to boost US manufacturing, secure US national security interests and resolve what Trump believed was an extremely out-of-balance trade relationship. President Joe Biden kept most of those tariffs in place and added

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7.4 million Americans could gain Medicare or Medicaid coverage for anti-obesity drugs under Biden proposal

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Millions more senior citizens and lower-income Americans could obtain coverage for costly anti-obesity drugs under a proposal unveiled Tuesday by the Biden administration. Some 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries and about 4 million Medicaid recipients would gain access to these medications, which can cost as much as $1,000 a month

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‘We enjoy this sometimes’: The rhetorical battle between Justices Alito and Kagan at the Supreme Court

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — The morning after Donald Trump was reelected president, Justices Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan began jousting more than usual. They personify the ideological and political gulf on America’s highest court. Alito, a 74-year-old Trenton, New Jersey, native is prepared to tear through decades-old landmarks, while Kagan,

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Trump ups the ante on tariffs, vowing massive taxes on goods from Mexico, Canada and China on Day 1

By David Goldman, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday promised massive hikes in tariffs on goods coming from Mexico, Canada and China starting on the first day of his administration, a policy that could sharply increase costs for American businesses and consumers. The move, Trump said, will be in retaliation for illegal immigration

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Nancy Mace, now targeting transgender lawmaker, called herself ‘pro-transgender rights’ in 2023

By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — Republican Rep. Nancy Mace as recently as last year called herself “pro-transgender rights” and said she supported children exploring gender identities with different hairstyles, clothing and preferred pronouns, a stark contrast to more recent comments that have put her in the national spotlight. Last week, the South Carolina Republican

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Trump lawyers investigate allegations that top aide sought financial gain from influence with president-elect, sources say

By Sara Murray, Kristen Holmes and Kate Sullivan, CNN (CNN) — Attorneys for Donald Trump conducted an internal investigation into allegations that one of his top aides, Boris Epshteyn, has sought to gain financially from his influence with Trump and others in the president-elect’s orbit, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The internal

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Special counsel Jack Smith drops election subversion and classified documents cases against Donald Trump

By Paula Reid, Tierney Sneed and Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Special counsel Jack Smith is dropping the federal election subversion and the mishandling of classified documents cases against President-elect Donald Trump, seeking the cases’ dismissal in court filings Monday. Trump has said he would fire Smith once he retook the office, shattering previous norms

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Supreme Court rejects tobacco industry challenge to graphic anti-smoking images on cigarette packs

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a challenge from major tobacco companies to the Food and Drug Administration’s requirement that they place graphic health warnings on cigarette packages and in advertisements. The FDA issued a rule in 2020 that requires health warnings on cigarette packages and in advertisements,

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What’s at stake for student loan borrowers during the next Trump administration

By Katie Lobosco, CNN Washington (CNN) — With much of President Joe Biden’s student loan agenda tied up in court, the incoming Trump administration could have a significant impact on millions of borrowers. President-elect Donald Trump hasn’t made specific promises on student loans or other forms of college financial aid, but delivering student loan forgiveness

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Trump names Brooke Rollins as his pick for Agriculture secretary

By Alayna Treene, Kaitlan Collins, Kristen Holmes, Shania Shelton and Kate Sullivan, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday announced one of his former policy advisers, Brooke Rollins, as his pick for secretary of the Department of Agriculture. “Brooke’s commitment to support the American Farmer, defense of American Food Self-Sufficiency, and the restoration of

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Trump’s AG pick Pam Bondi is more conventional than Gaetz, but the agenda to disrupt the Justice Department won’t change

CNN By Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — With his new pick for attorney general, President-elect Donald Trump has found not only a powerhouse media strategist and loyal ally, but a tenacious litigator known for her battles in court for conservative causes. And while little about Trump is conventional, Pam Bondi is a

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Trump’s AG pick Pam Bondi is more conventional than Gaetz, but the agenda to disrupt the Justice Department won’t change

By Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — With his new pick for attorney general, President-elect Donald Trump has found not only a powerhouse media strategist and loyal ally, but a tenacious litigator known for her battles in court for conservative causes. And while little about Trump is conventional, Pam Bondi is a far

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National security officials meet with US telecom execs to share intel on Chinese cyber-espionage campaign, White House says

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — Top telecom executives met with US national security officials at the White House on Friday as concerns mount over a long-running Chinese cyber-espionage campaign that has targeted some of the most senior US political figures in the country. The hackers burrowed deep into some major US telecom providers to

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Trump fills out his key public health roles

By Kaanita Iyer, Katherine Dillinger and Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has announced his picks for critical remaining public health roles in his incoming administration. Trump named Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as US surgeon general; Dr. Marty Makary as US Food and Drug Administration commissioner; Dr. Dave Weldon, a former congressman from Florida,

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