CNN – US Politics

By Katelyn Polantz, Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — A former Olympic canoeist has been indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, Superior Court, for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. David Hearn was charged Thursday with one count of destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000,

By Martin Goillandeau, CNN (CNN) — A US Air Force major was arrested on the steps of the US Capitol on Wednesday after delivering a speech calling for the impeachment and removal of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The arrest of Jason Watson occurred after he spoke at a news conference organized

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — Donors who intended to support a bipartisan nonprofit that’s organizing celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary were allegedly redirected — without their knowledge — to a separate nonprofit behind events being promoted by President Donald Trump, according to a report from a group of House Democrats, citing confidential, unnamed

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave her coveted endorsement Thursday to Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Senate candidate in Michigan who party leaders have worried might be too left-leaning to win in the swing state. “After watching this campaign unfold for well over a year, it has become clear

By Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Douglas S. DePodesta, the special agent in charge of the FBI Chicago field office, was pushed to retire after disagreements with the local US Attorney Andrew Boutros, according to two people familiar with the situation. Several people familiar with the retirement told CNN they didn’t believe one single dispute

By Holmes Lybrand, Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — The day after the White House kicked off celebrations for America’s 250th birthday with a UFC fight on the South Lawn, FBI Director Kash Patel announced that law enforcement had thwarted a plot to attack the event using drones and snipers to target Trump and others. Now,

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — After berating the Supreme Court for much of the year — while simultaneously inviting some of the justices over to the White House for dinner — President Donald Trump’s final assessment of the court’s momentous term this week felt something like a ceasefire. “The Republican Party,” the president posted

By Aleena Fayaz, CNN (CNN) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday fired two members of the state’s clemency board after they spoke out against his controversial decision to grant clemency to Tina Peters – an election denier whose sentence was cut in half by the outgoing Democratic governor in May. Azra Taslimi and Hannah

By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN (CNN) — An EMS audio recording published by an independent journalist indicates that emergency responders were called to the Washington, DC, home of Sen. Mitch McConnell for an “unconscious” person the same day he was hospitalized last month. In the audio, the dispatcher says the call is for a “cardiac

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge blocked the US Postal Service from carrying out its plan for President Donald Trump’s mail ballot executive order, finding that the proposal violated a settlement in a 2020 lawsuit against the agency. Trump had directed USPS to only transmit ballots for states that submit to the

By Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s former adviser and campaign spokesperson Jason Miller is expected to join the White House, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN. While those people said the paperwork and details are still being finalized, Miller will likely take on a special government employee role specific to

By Tierney Sneed, Paula Reid, CNN (CNN) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche threatened lawsuits against four states that have gun restrictions similar to the Hawaii law that the Supreme Court struck down last week. He also warned states considering laws that “mirror” Hawaii’s that they could face Justice Department lawsuits as well, as the

By Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Former CIA Director John Brennan, who has been under investigation by the Justice Department, is demanding the Trump administration preserve records about its inquiry into him, and asking for a court’s help, according to a new lawsuit filed in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. Brennan alleges that the

By Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he told his new acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte that he wants him to “declassify almost everything” while he’s in the role. “Bill (Pulte) is there just for a fairly short period of time. But while he’s there, I said you

By Aileen Graef, CNN (CNN) — As President Donald Trump boarded his inaugural flight on the new Air Force One, a luxury Boeing jet donated by the government of Qatar, he shared his excitement for the new aircraft and its foreign builders, saying the US “couldn’t build a plane like this.” “I’m excited about the

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — When President Donald Trump used his black Sharpie on his first day back in office to sign an executive order in January 2025 limiting birthright citizenship, he said, “This is a big one.” It was an audacious gambit. And in the most essential way, it failed.

By Patrick Svitek, CNN (CNN) — Two years ago, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent millions of dollars through its super PAC to defeat two vocal critics of Israel, Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York. “AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down,” Bush vowed in her concession speech.

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — Magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll asked a judge to release more than $5 million to her one day after the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to challenge a jury’s finding that he sexually abused and defamed her. Carroll’s lawyers asked the trial judge to expedite the briefing

By Adam Cancryn, Jeremy Herb, Casey Tolan, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump collected billions of dollars through an array of cryptocurrency holdings, royalty payments and property investments last year, according to his latest annual financial disclosure released on Tuesday. The 2025 report, which totals 927 pages, provides the most extensive look so far at

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance said that he believes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be the leading Democratic candidate for president 2028. “I think it’s got to be AOC. I know that’s probably conventional wisdom,” Vance said during an interview on “The Michael Knowles Show” released Tuesday. When the host argued

By John Fritze, Devan Cole, Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state bans on transgender students playing on girls sports teams, delivering another blockbuster setback to trans youth and their families in a decision that is likely to sustain similar laws in about half of the nation. In a 6-3

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — The House overwhelmingly passed a resolution to force the disclosure of records on confidential sexual harassment settlements on behalf of members Congress. GOP Rep. Thomas Massie forced the vote, saying that he believes documents and information already turned over to lawmakers was not sufficient. The measure was approved with

By John Fritze, Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — The conservative Supreme Court dealt a significant blow to President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda Tuesday, ruling that his administration could not use an executive order to end birthright citizenship for hundreds of thousands of babies born on US soil every year. Though not unexpected, the decision is

CNN By John Fritze, Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a significant win Monday by allowing him to remove the leaders of once-independent federal agencies at will, toppling a 1935 precedent in the process that could reorder the way the government functions. At the same time, the court made

CNN By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — For more than 40 years, since his service as a young Reagan administration lawyer, Chief Justice John Roberts has pressed for an exceptionally powerful US president, one who could fire the heads of independent agencies at any time. In one memo to the White House

By Sarah Ferris, Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Speaker Mike Johnson has once again lost a battle against hardline conservatives for control of his own House floor — and he has no clear way out. A small group of GOP hardliners, led by firebrand Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, effectively seized the floor from

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — A longtime aide to Bill Clinton walked back a prior claim that the former president visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island, according to GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, who questioned him, and two sources familiar with closed-door testimony on Capitol Hill. Doug Band, the former Clinton aide, is the 17th person to

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an effort by President Donald Trump to fire a top official at the Library of Congress for now, a move that will allow her to remain in her post while her case is reviewed by lower courts in light of the court’s blockbuster

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will decide whether cities and states may ban people from owning AR-15 rifles and similar semi-automatic weapons, taking up a major Second Amendment dispute that it had previously declined to address. One of the appeals involving certain semi-automatic rifles came from two

CNN By Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Republican Rep. Tom Kean of New Jersey said Tuesday that he experienced severe depression that required a long-term stay in the hospital, keeping him away from Washington more than 100 days. Kean announced his previously undisclosed health condition in highly anticipated floor remarks, acknowledging it was “not an