Politics

By Kaitlan Collins, Katie Lobosco and Gregory Krieg, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday threw a curveball to business-friendly conservatives by announcing Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon as his pick to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Labor. A favorite of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, Chavez-DeRemer is considered one

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has selected Russell Vought as his pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget, he said in a Truth Social post. Vought was one of the key authors of Project 2025 – the conservative blueprint that Trump tried to distance himself from during the campaign.

CNN By Kristen Holmes, Sara Murray, Elisabeth Buchwald and Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump named billionaire Scott Bessent as his pick to serve as the next secretary of the Department of the Treasury. “Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda. On the eve of our Great Country’s

By Kristen Holmes, Sara Murray, Elisabeth Buchwald and Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump named billionaire Scott Bessent as his pick to serve as the next secretary of the Department of the Treasury. “Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda. On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th

By Sara Murray, Kristen Holmes and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s hunt for a new FBI director is being complicated by the need to find someone who has a clear path to confirmation — and who will appeal to the MAGA base. After reports that former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, who once

By Katie Bo Lillis, Zachary Cohen and Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the intelligence community, was briefly placed on a Transportation Security Administration list that prompts additional security screening before flights after her overseas travel patterns and foreign connections triggered a government algorithm earlier this year, three sources

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to wade into a fight over Congress’ ability to delegate power to federal agencies — opening the next chapter in a decadeslong effort by conservatives and business interests to reduce the power of the federal government. The appeal, filed by the Biden administration, comes

By Eve Brennan, Li-Lian Ahlskog Hou and Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — A Norwegian man working as a security guard for the US Embassy in Oslo was arrested this week on allegations of spying for Russia and Iran. According to Norway’s public broadcaster NRK, the man is in his 20s and was arrested at home

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to offer Kelly Loeffler the job of secretary of the Department of Agriculture, two people familiar with the matter told CNN. He is set to meet with her at Mar-a-Lago Friday afternoon, but as is always the case, nothing is final until Trump announces

CNN By Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general on Thursday, said Friday he will not be returning to Congress next year. “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I

CNN By Kara Scannell, CNN New York (CNN) — The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial has adjourned his sentencing, which was set for next week. Judge Juan Merchan also agreed to hold off on issuing his decision on presidential immunity until after he reviews the parties’ filings. Merchan granted Trump’s request to

By Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general on Thursday, said Friday he will not be returning to Congress next year. “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do

By Ariel Edwards-Levy, CNN (CNN) — In the aftermath of the 2024 elections, Democrats are less optimistic about their party’s future than they’ve been at any point in the past eight years, according to new Pew Research Center polling released Friday. The poll, which was conducted November 12-17, also finds that views of President-elect Donald

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is considering shaking up the leadership at the FBI by firing the director and installing an experienced former agent and MAGA loyalist in the top two roles. Trump has planned for months to fire Christopher Wray if he was elected, but in recent days has struggled

WTMJ, CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — For Donald Trump, every defeat is just the catalyst for his next battle. No sooner had the president-elect suffered his first big reversal since winning reelection – when his scandal-tainted pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, withdrew Thursday after days of steadily worsening scrutiny over alleged

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Kristen Holmes, Zachary Cohen, Steve Contorno, Evan Perez and Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — Hours after his first pick to run the nation’s top law enforcement agency dropped out, President-elect Donald Trump named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his new choice to run the Justice Department. Trump made the announcement

By Gregory Krieg, CNN (CNN) — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey on Thursday conceded the high stakes Pennsylvania Senate race to Republican Dave McCormick. “During my time in office, I have been guided by an inscription on the Finance Building in Harrisburg: ‘All public service is a trust, given in faith and accepted in honor,’” he

CNN By Casey Tolan, Scott Glover and Sara Murray, CNN (CNN) — A California woman told police that Trump Cabinet pick Pete Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her even though she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot,” a police report obtained by CNN shows. The

By Katie Lobosco, CNN Washington (CNN) — The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, officially opened Thursday for students seeking financial aid for college during the 2025-2026 school year. The form traditionally opens on October 1, but the Department of Education delayed the release in an effort to avoid a repeat

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — The FBI has seized multiple websites that North Korean operatives used to impersonate legitimate US and Indian businesses in a likely effort to raise money for the nuclear armed-North Korean regime, according to statements on the websites and security researchers who investigated the activity. All four websites identified by

By Tierney Sneed and Ted Barrett, CNN (CNN) — Senate leaders have reached a deal that will smooth the path for Democrats to confirm several of President Joe Biden’s district court nominees, averting Republican procedural tactics that significantly slowed down the process, in exchange for ending efforts to confirm four pending appeals court nominees. Liberal

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — A high-ranking member of a Mexican drug cartel who allegedly faked his own death and has been living in California under a fake name is now facing federal charges, the US Justice Department announced Thursday. Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, a member of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación and the

CNN By Paula Reid and Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — The woman who says she had sex when she was a minor with then-Rep. Matt Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee she had two sexual encounters with him at one party in 2017, sources familiar with her testimony tell CNN. The woman, who was 17

CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — For Donald Trump, every defeat is just the catalyst for his next battle. No sooner had the president-elect suffered his first big reversal since winning reelection – when his scandal-tainted pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, withdrew Thursday after days of steadily worsening scrutiny over alleged sexual

By Eric Bradner, Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene, Lauren Fox, Sarah Ferris and Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — When Vice President-elect JD Vance and Matt Gaetz left the Capitol Hill room where they’d spent Wednesday trying to convince GOP senators to confirm the former Florida congressman as attorney general, Vance told reporters those meetings “went great.”

By Paula Reid and Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — The woman who says she had sex when she was a minor with then-Rep. Matt Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee she had two sexual encounters with him at one party in 2017, sources familiar with her testimony tell CNN. The woman, who was 17 years

CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — For Donald Trump, every defeat is just the catalyst for his next battle. No sooner had the president-elect suffered his first big reversal since winning reelection – when his scandal-tainted pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, withdrew Thursday after days of steadily worsening scrutiny over alleged sexual

By Annie Grayer and Haley Talbot, CNN (CNN) — House GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced that she will chair a new oversight subcommittee in the next Congress that will work with the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. House Oversight Chair James Comer “intends to establish a

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN Washington (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s team is gaming out an aggressive strategy toward Latin America that will be a crucial element to plans to deport migrants at large scale, according to two sources involved in transition policy discussions. During his first term, Trump took a hardline – and at times,

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump’s return to power is creating a reality television-like competition for attention among a group of black-robed candidates – some of whom may hope to one day wind up on the Supreme Court. Several possible contenders for one of the coveted nine seats on the high court have

By Katie Bo Lillis, Jeremy Herb and Daniel Strauss, CNN (CNN) — In 2020, the woman who has become Donald Trump’s pick to be the nation’s top spymaster met with one of the most infamous leakers of all time. Tulsi Gabbard, then in the midst of a failed bid for the Democratic nomination for president,

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — Nick Begich’s flip of Alaska’s lone House seat will pad Republicans’ slim House majority — but with several members departing to join President-elect Donald Trump’s administration and just three races left to be decided, the party could enter the new year with very little room for error. That narrow

By Casey Tolan, Scott Glover and Sara Murray, CNN (CNN) — A California woman told police that Trump Cabinet pick Pete Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her even though she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot,” a police report obtained by CNN shows. The 22-page

By Alayna Treene and Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — After rarely being seen in public in the two weeks since he delivered a brief, 46-second victory speech on election night, JD Vance reemerged this week to play one of the most important roles he will be expected to fill as Donald Trump’s No. 2: His

By Clare Foran, CNN (CNN) — The Senate on Wednesday voted down an effort led by Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders to block a series of planned US weapons sales to Israel. The failure of the long-shot effort highlights that despite criticism from the left that the Biden administration and Israel are not doing enough

By Sarah Ferris, Annie Grayer and Manu Raju, CNN (CNN) — Republicans on the House Ethics Committee fell in line behind GOP leaders and voted not to release the results of their investigation into Donald Trump’s attorney general pick, Matt Gaetz, despite growing calls from the Senate GOP to make the findings public ahead of

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — Senate Democrats have confirmed some of President Joe Biden’s picks for the federal bench this week in the face of President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for a total GOP blockade of judicial nominations – in part because several Republicans involved with the Trump transition process have been missing votes. Conservative

By Kristen Holmes, Holmes Lybrand and Jamie Gangel, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump is considering a right-wing media personality, people who have served on his US Secret Service detail, as well as others to run the agency that has been plagued by its failure to preempt two alleged assassination attempts on Trump this summer, sources

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — Two Georgia election workers who won a massive verdict against Rudy Giuliani because he defamed them after the 2020 election are asking a federal judge to hold him in contempt of court. Their request on Wednesday morning opens up a new avenue of difficulty in court that the former

By Sara Murray and Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — A Democratic election official in Pennsylvania offered an impassioned apology Wednesday for claiming “precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country” to justify counting about 600 faulty ballots in defiance of state Supreme Court rulings. “The passion in my heart got the best of

By Jennifer Hansler, Hannah Rabinowitz and Kate Sullivan, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Matthew Whitaker, who served as acting attorney general during Trump’s first term, as his pick to be US ambassador to NATO. “Matt is a strong warrior and loyal Patriot, who will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and

By Betsy Klein, CNN Washington (CNN) — With just two months until he leaves office, President Joe Biden is gearing up to utilize his presidential pardon power for fowl reasons. Justice will be served Monday as Biden pardons the national Thanksgiving turkeys on the White House South Lawn, CNN has exclusively learned, participating in the

By Tami Luhby and Matt Egan, CNN (CNN) — Ensuring the US doesn’t default on its obligations. Extending trillions of dollars in tax cuts before they expire. Quarterbacking President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for the economy. The incoming Treasury secretary, whomever Trump ultimately picks, will face a confluence of deadlines and campaign promises that will make

By Rene Marsh, Kristen Holmes and Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, a nongovernmental entity helmed by billionaire Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, is expected to make a push for an end to remote work across federal agencies as a way

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — On one side of the Capitol, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace vowed to “stand in the way” of Democratic Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, the first out transgender woman elected to Congress, using women’s bathrooms in the US Capitol. Across the building, McBride was privately counseling her Democratic colleagues how to balance

By Oren Liebermann and Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — The Biden administration has approved sending anti-personnel mines to Ukraine for the first time in another major policy shift, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed on Wednesday. The decision comes just days after the US gave Ukraine permission to fire long-range US missiles at targets in

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, told Republicans on a prayer call Tuesday that “the battle is just beginning,” as he faces questions about his confirmation after a past sexual assault allegation surfaced that he denies. Hegseth’s comments made during the call, which was hosted by

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — Two women who claim they were paid for sex by former Rep. Matt Gaetz provided House ethics investigators with “numerous” photos related to time they spent with the Florida Republican, a lawyer for the women said Tuesday, including from an alleged 2019 trip to New York. The women said

CNN By Alexandra Banner, CNN (CNN) — Thanksgiving dinner will cost less this year amid reduced demand for turkeys, an annual survey found. The average price of a 16-pound turkey — typically the star of the holiday meal — is $25.67, or 6% less than last year. Here’s what else you need to know to

By Kristen Holmes, Kaitlan Collins and John Towfighi, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has named his transition co-chair Linda McMahon as his pick to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Education. The decision, which Trump announced Tuesday night confirming CNN’s earlier reporting, took shape after it became clear that McMahon would

CNN By Kristen Holmes, Kaitlan Collins and Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump announced Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as his pick for secretary of the Department of Commerce on Tuesday, selecting his transition co-chair for a key role in an administration that the president-elect has promised will enact sweeping tariffs. “He will lead

By Tami Luhby, Kate Sullivan and Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has picked Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a key federal agency that oversees health insurance coverage for more than 150 million Americans. “I have known Dr. Oz for many years,

CNN By Paula Reid, Kara Scannell, Jeremy Herb and Lauren del Valle, CNN (CNN) — The Manhattan district attorney’s office said Tuesday it would agree to postpone Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case to give prosecutors time to litigate the president-elect’s expected motion to dismiss the case. In a letter to Judge Juan

CNN By John King, CNN Kellerton, Iowa (CNN) — Shanen Ebersole believes if people better understood her life they would better understand her unapologetic vote for Donald Trump. “The majority of people who voted for Trump are not the far-right crazies,” Ebersole said in an interview. “That is not who we are. We are simple

By John King, CNN Kellerton, Iowa (CNN) — Shanen Ebersole believes if people better understood her life they would better understand her unapologetic vote for Donald Trump. “The majority of people who voted for Trump are not the far-right crazies,” Ebersole said in an interview. “That is not who we are. We are simple Americans

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju and Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz is quietly urging GOP senators to give him a chance to prove himself suitable to be attorney general amid growing calls from top Republicans to access a House Ethics Committee report expected to detail allegations of sexual misconduct involving the

By Kayla Tausche and Kevin Liptak, CNN Rio de Janeiro (CNN) — A major decision by the United States to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles deeper inside Russian territory has complicated a potential western diplomatic thaw with Russia as dozens of world leaders gather this week. Sunday’s decision was viewed by many western leaders

By Paula Reid, Kara Scannell, Jeremy Herb and Lauren del Valle, CNN (CNN) — The Manhattan district attorney’s office said Tuesday it would agree to postpone Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case to give prosecutors time to litigate the president-elect’s expected motion to dismiss the case. In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan,

By Kevin Liptak and Kayla Tausche, CNN Rio de Janeiro (CNN) — President Joe Biden’s exit from the world stage this week was less of a dramatic mic drop and more of a slow fade from view, a low-key conclusion to a lengthy foreign policy career whose legacy is now under threat by Donald Trump.

By Haley Britzky and Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — China rejected a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a conference in southeast Asia this week, marking the latest turn in a tumultuous relationship between the two countries’ defense leaders. Austin sought to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, at the ASEAN Defense Ministers’

By Kristen Holmes, Kaitlan Collins and Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump announced Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as his pick for secretary of the Department of Commerce on Tuesday, selecting his transition co-chair for a key role in an administration that the president-elect has promised will enact sweeping tariffs. “He will lead our

CNN By Morgan Rimmer, Manu Raju and Haley Talbot, CNN (CNN) — A House Republican is pushing to ban transgender women from women’s restrooms at the US Capitol, two weeks after history was made with the election of America’s first out transgender person to Congress. South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace on Monday introduced a resolution

By Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Attorney General Merrick Garland, nearing the end of his tenure leading the Justice Department, told career prosecutors Monday that they are the “backbone” of the Justice Department and urged them to continue to “uphold the rule of law.” In his first public comments since President-elect Donald

CNN By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN (CNN) — The former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee who was fired earlier this month after being accused of skipping homes of Donald Trump supporters while providing relief in Florida after Hurricane Milton told CNN on Monday night that she was simply following FEMA protocol. “What I’d like for

By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN (CNN) — The former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee who was fired earlier this month after being accused of skipping homes of Donald Trump supporters while providing relief in Florida after Hurricane Milton told CNN on Monday night that she was simply following FEMA protocol. “What I’d like for the

By Sarah Ferris and Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Hakeem Jeffries nearly became House speaker. Instead, he’s steering the Democratic Party through an identity crisis and hoping to avoid an ugly intraparty civil war. Even without the gavel, many Democrats across Washington say House Minority Leader Jeffries — a 54-year-old New Yorker with centrist roots

By Morgan Rimmer, Manu Raju and Haley Talbot, CNN (CNN) — A House Republican is pushing to ban transgender women from women’s restrooms at the US Capitol, two weeks after history was made with the election of America’s first out transgender person to Congress. South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace on Monday introduced a resolution to

By Tierney Sneed and Paula Reid, CNN (CNN) — Two women testified to the House Ethics Committee that they were paid for “sexual favors” by former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, a lawyer for the two women told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday. Additionally, one of the women testified to

By Kristen Holmes, Annie Grayer, Sarah Ferris and Manu Raju, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is doubling down on his efforts to ensure former Rep. Matt Gaetz is confirmed as attorney general, calling some senators directly to discuss the Florida Republican and ask for their support, two sources familiar with the outreach told CNN.

By Arit John and Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Just two weeks after a bruising presidential election, the race to lead the Democratic Party has begun in earnest, with Minnesota Democratic party chair Ken Martin and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley entering the race this week. Martin and O’Malley have kicked off a roughly three-month

By Kate Sullivan and Alexandra Skores, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday he has selected former congressman and recent Fox Business co-host Sean Duffy to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Transportation. Duffy served in the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019, representing Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. He

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — A Russian man has been extradited from South Korea to the US to face charges in connection with a ransomware gang that allegedly extorted more than $16 million from victims around the world, US prosecutors said Monday. 42-year-old Evgenii Ptitsyn is accused of administering the sale, distribution and operation

By Kayla Tausche, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is casting a wider net for Treasury secretary after jockeying among his top two candidates sent him looking for an alternative solution, according to multiple people familiar with the process. Trump is now considering Kevin Warsh, a former investment banker and former Federal Reserve governor whom

By Betsy Klein, CNN Washington (CNN) — The Biden administration is sending a roughly $100 billion request to Congress to help Americans impacted by a series of major and record-breaking natural disasters in 2023 and 2024, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton, calling on lawmakers to pass the needed relief with “bipartisan and bicameral support.” It

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Biden administration on Monday imposed sanctions on Israel’s largest settlement development organization as part of the latest US actions targeting those fomenting instability in the occupied West Bank. The administration has issued a number of rounds of sanctions after President Joe Biden issued an executive order in February

By Kevin Liptak, CNN Rio de Janeiro (CNN) — Donald Trump’s influence is already causing behind-the-scenes drama as Group of 20 talks are getting underway here this week after one of Trump’s top global allies put up resistance to a joint leaders’ statement, a move diplomats interpreted as meant to curry favor with the incoming

By Paula Reid and Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — Accounts of parties involving drugs, alcohol and young women that were allegedly attended by President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, are in the hands of House ethics investigators under pressure to release its findings on the former Florida congressman. The evidence related to

CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump is refusing to back down over his Cabinet picks in the first clash in an epic battle he will wage against Washington when he takes office next year. The coming days will show whether Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

By Kevin Liptak, CNN Rio de Janeiro (CNN) — When President Joe Biden worked to burnish his climate legacy in the Brazilian Amazon on Sunday, the unspoken presence of Donald Trump shadowed the historic stop. A sitting American president had never before set foot in the Amazon rainforest, and Biden wanted to use his presence

By Ariel Edwards-Levy, CNN (CNN) — Support for deporting undocumented immigrants has grown since Donald Trump was last in office, a review of recent polling finds – as have nativist sentiments more broadly. But the level of public backing for mass deportation varies significantly depending on the framing of the question, suggesting there are limits

CNN By Kevin Liptak, Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use powerful long-range American weapons inside Russia, according to two US officials familiar with the decision, as North Korean troops deploy in support of Moscow’s effort. The decision comes as Moscow has deployed nearly 50,000 troops

By Kevin Liptak, Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use powerful long-range American weapons inside Russia, according to two US officials familiar with the decision, as North Korean troops deploy in support of Moscow’s effort. The decision comes as Moscow has deployed nearly 50,000 troops to

By Katie Lobosco and Devan Cole, CNN Washington (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has laid out some big changes for education in the US. Much of his platform focuses on rolling back the federal government’s role in schools and giving states and parents more of a say in what children learn, with the goal of

CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump is refusing to back down over his Cabinet picks in the first clash in an epic battle he will wage against Washington when he takes office next year. The coming days will show whether Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Steve Contorno, Annie Grayer, Paula Reid, Evan Perez and Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — When President-elect Donald Trump tapped Matt Gaetz for attorney general, he elevated a MAGA firebrand with a penchant for stoking controversy and a history of getting out of trouble to lead a Justice Department that has investigated both

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — The cryptocurrency industry’s leading super PACs plowed $131 million into congressional races this election cycle to help elect dozens of pro-crypto lawmakers, while individual billionaires with crypto interests spent millions to help return Donald Trump to the White House. Now, they are determined to change how Washington treats their

By Kaanita Iyer, Zachary Cohen and Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement that included a confidentiality clause, according to Hegseth’s attorney. Attorney Timothy Parlatore said Hegseth denies assaulting the woman and has characterized the October

By Kristen Holmes, Lauren Fox, Pamela Brown, Jamie Gangel and Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is pressing forward with his decision to put forward former Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general, despite widespread unease on Capitol Hill about entrusting the Justice Department to a figure with limited legal experience who has recently

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named Chris Wright, the CEO of Denver-based fracking company Liberty Energy, as his pick to be the next secretary of the Department of Energy. Wright will also serve as a member on the newly formed Council of National Energy, which Trump said will consist

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Seeking to woo targeted groups of voters during his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump rolled out plans for a sweeping array of tax breaks, including promises to eliminate levies on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits, for millions of Americans. Now comes the harder part – actually keeping all

By Gregory Krieg, CNN (CNN) — For Democratic pro-Palestinian activists, Donald Trump’s reelection delivered a bitter vindication. Led by the Uncommitted National Movement, they spent months pushing and pleading with the Biden administration to scale back its support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Their warning had been consistent and direct: Not only did Democrats risk

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is set to make his return to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, visiting the New York City landmark arena for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event. Trump’s trip to his hometown, and the arena where he held a controversial rally less than two weeks before Election

By Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — In mid-September, as tech billionaire Elon Musk intensified his efforts to elect Donald Trump as president, a wave of letters arrived at the Department of Transportation, asking the agency to turn over any emails and text messages that federal workers sent about the world’s wealthiest man and his sprawling

By Kevin Liptak and Kayla Tausche, CNN Lima, Peru (CNN) — President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, closed the book on their diplomatic relationship Saturday, meeting for a final time amid uncertainty over what the next Donald Trump presidency might portend for their two countries’ ties. As they opened the talks on

By Priscilla Alvarez and Phil Mattingly, CNN Washington (CNN) — The incoming Trump administration’s plans to implement strict border measures, strike down Biden-era policies and kick off the detention and deportation of migrants at large scale are underway and starting to come into focus, according to four sources familiar with the plans. President-elect Donald Trump

By Casey Gannon and Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — The attorney who represents two women who were witnesses in the House Ethics Committee probe into former congressman Matt Gaetz said Friday that one of his clients told the panel she saw the congressman having sex with a minor. “My client testified to the House Ethics

CNN By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — Rudy Giuliani has turned over his 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible, his luxury watch collection and a diamond ring, marking a partial end to a saga where the former mayor of New York City has tried to outrun the court system as two Georgia election workers try to collect on

CNN By Kristen Holmes and Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team was in the middle of announcing new Cabinet picks this week when they were informed of a sexual assault allegation about one of his previous selections, Pete Hegseth, stunning several members of Trump’s team who have since raised questions about