CNN – US Politics

By Aleena Fayaz, CNN (CNN) — Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump’s suggestion that protesters could be prosecuted for racketeering, as the administration continues to preview a plan to crack down on left-wing groups it claims are inciting violence. Trump on Monday suggested that protesters who interrupted his dinner at

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department said Tuesday that is suing two states over their refusal to turn over complete voters rolls to the Trump administration – escalating a conflict between the federal government and some state election officials that has been building for months. Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Justice Department’s

By Veronica Stracqualursi and Ellis Kim, CNN (CNN) — The House has passed two bills that Republicans say would combat crime in Washington, DC, but that also limit the city’s self-governance as the GOP seeks to bolster President Donald Trump’s federal crackdown. The bills passed on Tuesday are among more than a dozen being considered

By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday ran into several shouting matches with Democratic senators who pressed him on the bungling of the Epstein files, firings of agents for alleged political reasons and warnings that President Donald Trump, eventually, would turn on the director despite his

CNN By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday ran into several shouting matches with Democratic senators who pressed him on the bungling of the Epstein files, firings of agents for alleged political reasons and warnings that President Donald Trump, eventually, would turn on the director despite

By Katelyn Polantz, Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Former Attorney General Bill Barr recounted in recent testimony with House investigators how he informed President Donald Trump of Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide in 2019. “I called [the president] up and said, ‘You better brace for this,’ and I told him words to that effect, and I told

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN (CNN) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday ripped President Donald Trump as having failed both a “leadership test” and a “morality test” after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. “It should not be hard to stand up to some people who are celebrating the killing of Charlie Kirk and say, ‘That’s wrong,’ and

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — House Republicans are discussing pumping tens of millions of dollars into security for lawmakers in the aftermath of the assassination of a prominent conservative activist, though some lawmakers say that is not enough in today’s rancorous political climate. In a closed-door conference meeting Tuesday, the GOP discussed attaching a

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday urged a greater emphasis on civic involvement and education, questioning whether some Americans had been clearly taught the difference between a president and a king. Speaking to the New York Law School in Manhattan, the Supreme Court’s senior liberal encouraged people to

By Casey Gannon, Jason Morris, CNN (CNN) — The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on her removal from the case prosecuting President Donald Trump and his alleged co-conspirators over their efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The case against Trump and his co-defendants

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The State Department has “most certainly been denying visas” to people “celebrating” the murder of Charlie Kirk, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. The top US diplomat’s comments come amid broader threats by the Trump administration to punish alleged “hate speech” after the killing of the president’s ally

By David Wright, CNN (CNN) — Geoff Duncan, the former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, announced Tuesday he will run for governor in 2026 as a Democrat, cementing a high-profile party switch and entering a key midterm contest. In a video announcing his campaign, Duncan says that “Georgia Republicans threw me out of their party,”

By Molly English, CNN (CNN) — Democrat Xp Lee will win a special election to fill the vacant seat of the late Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman, according to a call from the Associated Press, just over three months after she and her husband were fatally shot in what Gov. Tim Walz at the time

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — After months of slow burning controversies around his agency, from the handling of the investigation into Charlie Kirk’s murder to the bungled release of Epstein files, FBI Director Kash Patel will face Senate and House lawmakers at two highly anticipated hearings. Lawmakers are expected to push Patel, a Donald

By Jennifer Hansler, Stefano Pozzebon, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration said Monday that Colombia had “failed demonstrably” in its obligations to fight drug trafficking but the US will continue to provide funding to the country. Although the decision to “decertify” Colombia but continue assistance avoids what experts said was the worst-case scenario of cutting

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — As multiple service members are facing investigation or suspension for posts on social media critical of Charlie Kirk, experts told CNN there are legal roadblocks to the military actually taking significant action against them. A slew of accounts on X began posting screenshots of social media posts made by

By Kevin Liptak, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump said Monday he’d consider naming far-left anti-fascism group Antifa as domestic terrorists, previewing a plan to crack down on what he’s cast as a widespread network of left-wing radicals inciting violence. “It’s something I would do, yeah,” he said when asked whether he would

By Arit John, CNN (CNN) — Arnold Schwarzenegger, the action star and former Republican governor of California, urged voters in the state to oppose Proposition 50, a ballot initiative backed by Democrats that would allow the party to temporarily redraw the state’s congressional maps. “I hate to get political here, but this is not political.

By Associated Press Accra, Ghana (AP) — The government of Ghana said Monday that 14 West Africans deported to the country from the US have been sent to their home countries, places where lawyers representing some of the men say they face a risk of persecution or torture. News of the West Africans’ deportation to

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The US military killed three people in another deadly strike on a vessel in international waters around South America allegedly “transporting illegal narcotics” from Venezuela, President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday. “This morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike

By Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — The US Air Force has begun modifying a Boeing 747 that was donated to the US by Qatar over the summer, an Air Force spokesperson said on Monday. The plane will be used for “executive airlift support,” the spokesperson said. President Donald Trump has said he wants to use

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor involved in the Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean Combs cases, has sued the Trump administration over her firing this summer, levying another legal challenge to the Justice Department’s treatment of career officials. Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, alleges in

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The Pentagon’s internal watchdog has completed a monthslong review of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal to discuss sensitive military operations and has submitted its findings to Hegseth for review, two people familiar with the matter told CNN. Hegseth will now have the opportunity to

CNN By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — When President Donald Trump arrives at Windsor Castle in a royal carriage Wednesday, heralded by three separate military bands and escorted by riders on horseback, his host — King Charles III — will in some ways be repaying a nearly 37-year-old favor. In 1988, the then-Prince of Wales

By Arlette Saenz, Alison Main, Ted Barrett, CNN (CNN) — The White House has requested an additional $58 million in security funding for the executive and judicial branches following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a Republican congressional aide said. The funding request is being “actively processed” in the context of a stopgap funding bill, the

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — When President Donald Trump arrives at Windsor Castle in a royal carriage Wednesday, heralded by three separate military bands and escorted by riders on horseback, his host — King Charles III — will in some ways be repaying a nearly 37-year-old favor. In 1988, the then-Prince of Wales was

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump, high-level administration and Republican Party officials, and top political influencers are expected to converge in Arizona on Sunday to honor Charlie Kirk, the assassinated conservative activist. But the memorial service, to be held at the massive State Farm Stadium in Glendale, just outside Phoenix, is going

By Lauren Chadwick, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump said Monday he will call a national emergency once again in Washington, DC, if local police do not cooperate with immigration enforcement. The president said in a Truth Social post overnight that his initial order had reduced crime in the district but that if local police

By Haley Britzky, Isabelle Khurshudyan, CNN (CNN) — The future of warfare felt a lot like playing a video game. Soldiers fastened on virtual-reality glasses and then moved their fingers across the joystick in their palms. A small drone buzzed and lifted in response. At a military base in Texas last month, American soldiers trained