CNN – US Politics

By Jeff Zeleny, CNN College Station, Texas (CNN) — It may sound like James Talarico is getting ahead of himself when he talks about delivering an election night surprise in November, right here in Texas, where a Democratic senator has not been elected in his lifetime. Yet he insists he’s not being boastful or presumptuous,

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s announcement of a “massive and ongoing” US military campaign against Iran — and his explicit call for the country’s citizens to shake off their oppressive leadership — put on display his fresh appetite for geopolitical risk and thrust his presidency into a deeper period of uncertainty.

By Annie Grayer, MJ Lee, CNN Chappaqua, New York (CNN) — Bill Clinton on Friday denied having any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes during what he said was the pair’s “brief acquaintance” under more than six hours of questioning from lawmakers who sought to unravel the former president’s ties to the late convicted sex offender.

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration on Friday formally designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, the latest move to ratchet up pressure and penalize Iran for its history of imprisoning US citizens. It is the first such designation under an executive order signed last September meant to deter countries

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — Authorities say they now know who kidnapped and strangled 7-year-old Morgan Violi nearly 30 years ago. Prosecutors say Robert Scott Froberg admitted to taking the girl in July 1996 during a prison escape. They say he snatched her near a Bowling Green, Kentucky, apartment building, drove her in a

By Arlette Saenz, CNN (CNN) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris recorded a robocall encouraging voters to support Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary for Senate in Texas, a source familiar with the matter said. “This is Kamala Harris, and I’m calling to encourage you to please go vote for my friend Jasmine Crockett

By Haley Britzky, Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — When President Donald Trump visited Fort Bragg, North Carolina, earlier this month, the commander of the elite Army Delta Force responsible for carrying out the operation to seize Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro made clear there was one man in particular who deserved the highest military honor: Chief

By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — Members of Congress are raising questions after a photograph they say shows Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick alongside Jeffrey Epstein on the late sex offender’s private island was briefly removed from the Justice Department’s website. The image had been hosted in the department’s online repository of Epstein-related files uploaded in

By Jennifer Hansler, Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — In his first comments about Saturday’s US military strikes against Iran, President Donald Trump claimed in a video posted to social media that Iran has been building missiles that “could soon reach the American homeland.” It’s an argument he also made in his

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Transportation Security Administration workers will receive only a portion of their next paycheck, which they are set to receive as soon as Friday, according to a union official. The reduced pay comes as the partial government shutdown ends its second week with no resolution in sight. The impasse could

By Kevin Liptak, CNN CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (CNN) — When President Donald Trump arrived at the deepwater port here Friday to talk about his energy agenda, the three Republicans locked in a bitter battle for Texas’ Senate seat might have hoped for a surprise: an endorsement. It never came. Trump, who has declined to back

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN (CNN) — The line Joe Biden used to put into nearly every big speech — “I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future” — is a long way from what he says in private now. These days, multiple people who’ve spoken to him over the last year say, Biden often punctuates

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — The extraordinary number of dueling opinions in the Supreme Court’s tariff case, laying bare divisions among the justices, also became the basis for a punch line. At the courtroom lectern this week in a dispute between an energy-pipeline company and the state of Michigan, lawyer John

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — While the Trump administration has shown no hesitation to bash Canada – especially after the US men’s Olympic hockey team won gold in overtime – one of the players took issue with a recent AI-generated TikTok posted by the White House that made it sound like he was trash-talking

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — As GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw and Sen. Ted Cruz prepared to board the same flight from Houston to Washington in recent months, the two famously brash Republicans had a tense exchange that now looms large over Crenshaw’s battle for political survival. Crenshaw accused Cruz of

CNN By Alexandra Banner, CNN Nearly 8,000 images from around the world were submitted for the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 competition. In the end, an Australian photographer claimed the top prize for capturing a tender moment of elephant seal pups nuzzling in a rockpool. Here’s what else you need to know to get

By Arlette Saenz, CNN (CNN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton deployed his daughter to vouch for him Thursday after a scathing attack ad released by Sen. John Cornyn in their increasingly contentious Republican Senate primary race. Paxton’s campaign released a video from his daughter Mattie Hayworth in which she says: “My dad is a

By Morgan Rimmer, Lauren Fox, Ted Barrett, Ellis Kim, CNN (CNN) — Despite President Donald Trump demanding that Majority Leader John Thune find some way to pass a voter ID bill in the Senate, Republicans in the chamber maintain they do not have the support to change Senate rules to bypass the filibuster. The predicament

By Gabe Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is releasing more than $5 billion in long-delayed disaster aid to states – but not to several Democratic-led states where President Donald Trump has clashed with governors, according to four sources familiar with the plan. States rely on these funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Thursday rejected the nation’s top historic preservation group’s attempt to block to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project, but also suggested a possible roadmap for the group to revive the challenge. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the Trump administration in December over

By Kaitlan Collins, Katherine Koretski, CNN (CNN) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrived at the White House Thursday with a game plan in mind and props in hand. During his last sit down with President Donald Trump in November, the two leaders ended their meeting by agreeing on at least one thing: “Let’s

By Annie Grayer, MJ Lee, CNN Chappaqua, New York (CNN) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defiantly faced lawmakers Thursday who sought to question her about her family’s past ties to Jeffrey Epstein, insisting that she had no information about the late convicted sex offender’s criminal activities and blasting Republicans for conducting the interview

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s administration urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow it to end temporary protections for thousands of Syrians who have been living in the United States since the government’s brutal crackdown on protesters fifteen years ago. The administration filed an emergency appeal at the high court,

By Devan Cole, CNN Nashville, Tennessee (CNN) — A federal prosecutor in Nashville who secured criminal charges last year against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national who was illegally deported by the Trump administration, attempted to convince a federal judge on Thursday to not toss out the case based on a finding that it was

By Edward Wu, CNN (CNN) — Early voting data ahead of next Tuesday’s US Senate primaries in Texas suggest a sharp rise in Democratic turnout, pointing to a continuing trend of strong enthusiasm among the party’s base. Through Tuesday, about 850,000 ballots had been cast in the Democratic primary, according to data from the Associated

By Piper HudspethBlackburn, CNN (CNN) — The husband of a late staffer to Rep. Tony Gonzales called the congressman a “predator” on Wednesday, and said that the Texas Republican has “continued to lie to the American people” amid affair allegations. “You know, the guy’s a predator. You know, he’s continued to lie to the American

By Tierney Sneed, Sean Lyngaas, Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — A Donald Trump appointee at the Department of Homeland Security told state election officials from around the country Wednesday that federal immigration agents won’t be deployed to polling places during the 2026 midterms, according to multiple sources on the call. The comments, made by DHS

By Evan Perez, Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the ouster of at least 10 employees involved in the investigation of President Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, four people briefed on the matter told CNN. The ousters are part of a wider internal

By Adam Cancryn, Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is withholding more than $250 million in Medicaid funds from Minnesota, claiming widespread fraud as it escalates a pressure campaign on the state’s Democratic leadership. Vice President JD Vance announced the extraordinary move on Wednesday, blaming Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for failing to adequately

By Associated Press (CNN) — The Trump administration’s latest policy of deporting immigrants to “third countries” to which they have no ties is unlawful and must be set aside, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in a case that already reached the nation’s highest court. US District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts agreed to suspend