President Joe Biden held his first call Tuesday with his Russian counterpart, according to the White House, confronting President Vladimir Putin over a range of issues from a recent massive cyberattack to the suspected poisoning of the country’s leading opposition figure. The call, which occurred midday, amounted to Biden’s opening bid at diplomacy with one
Continue Reading UPDATE: President Joe Biden on Tuesday afternoon ordered the Department of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role the government has played implementing discriminatory housing policies. The moves came as Biden signed a series of orders and memorandums Tuesday to spotlight the new administration’s effort to make combating racial
Continue Reading US Capitol Police officers are in preliminary discussions over holding a no-confidence vote targeting department leaders who were working on the day when Donald Trump supporters led an insurrection into the building, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The vote would target acting USCP Chief Yogananda Pittman, who was promoted into the agency’s
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It was February 2008 when a snowstorm suddenly overwhelmed the flight path of two American helicopters, forcing them to make an unexpected landing on a mountaintop in Afghanistan. On board the aircrafts overlooking Taliban territory were Joe Biden and Antony Blinken, his then-top adviser on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with a few other
Continue Reading President Joe Biden is set to speak Tuesday afternoon on his vision to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, and is expected in part to focus on actions his administration plans to take to increase the supply of vaccines, a senior White House official tells CNN. The President is also expected to address ways his administration hopes
Continue Reading Alejandro Mayorkas’ nomination to be Homeland Security secretary moved forward Tuesday after a Senate panel vote as a top Democrat rejected Republican calls for another hearing that would delay his confirmation. President Joe Biden’s nominee was voted out of the Senate Homeland Security Committee with all Democrats voting yes, paving the way for Mayorkas to
Continue Reading The acting head of the US Capitol Police told congressional members during a closed-door briefing Tuesday that the “department failed to meet its own high standards” on January 6 when a crowd of pro-Trump rioters overran the Capitol building. Acting US Capitol Police chief Yogananda Pittman called the insurrection a “terrorist attack” and offered her
Continue Reading North Carolina state Sen. Jeff Jackson announced his 2022 bid for Senate on Tuesday, setting up a divisive Democratic primary for the open seat that will be pivotal to the party’s future control of the Senate. Jackson launched his “100-county campaign” in a video with his wife Marisa and his young sons, who are seen
Continue Reading Alejandro Mayorkas’ nomination to be Homeland Security secretary moved forward Tuesday after a Senate panel vote as a top Democrat rejected Republican calls for another hearing that would delay his confirmation. President Joe Biden’s nominee was voted out of the Senate Homeland Security Committee with all Democrats voting yes, paving the way for Mayorkas to
Continue Reading Sen. Rand Paul plans to force a test vote on Tuesday that will show how many Republicans support holding an impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump and how many believe a trial should not take place. Paul, a Kentucky Republican, told reporters he’s going to force a procedural vote on the constitutionality of a
Continue Reading The Department of Homeland Security, largely hollowed out over the last four years, is moving with urgency to staff agencies with people who had front row seats to the hardline immigration limits rolled out under former President Donald Trump, in order to rescind them. The department — the third largest in the US government —
Continue Reading The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Antony Blinken as the new US secretary of state. Blinken, a longtime Biden associate, was approved by a vote of 78-22. With Blinken’s confirmation, President Joe Biden now has a number of key members of his national security team in place. In addition to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan
Continue Reading In prepared remarks obtained by CNN, acting US Capitol Police chief Yogananda Pittman told congressional members the department was aware of a “strong potential for violence” and did not take the appropriate steps to prevent the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Read the statement as prepared:
Continue Reading The acting head of the US Capitol Police told congressional members during a closed-door briefing Tuesday that the “department failed to meet its own high standards” on January 6 when a crowd of pro-Trump rioters overran the Capitol building. Acting US Capitol police chief Yogananda Pittman called the insurrection a “terrorist attack” and offered her
Continue Reading President Joe Biden is set to order a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with his plans. The move is expected to be the most prominent in a series of climate actions the President will take on Wednesday, including elevating the climate crisis as
Continue Reading A cold war is underway within the Republican Party as its members begin to navigate how former President Donald Trump and his legacy fit into the GOP’s future. Some in congressional leadership have signaled their desire to move the party beyond Trump by impeaching and convicting him. Allies of the former President, on the other
Continue Reading President Joe Biden is expected to reopen enrollment on the federal Affordable Care Act exchanges on Thursday as part of a series of executive actions related to health care, taking a step to help uninsured Americans that his predecessor rejected. It will be Biden’s first move toward delivering on his campaign promise to bolster the
Continue Reading The Senate will vote on whether to confirm Antony Blinken as the new US secretary of state Tuesday. Blinken, a longtime aide to President Joe Biden, received largely bipartisan support in his Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote Monday, with only three Republicans voting against. If confirmed, the new top US diplomat faces the challenges of
Continue Reading Federal prosecutors have charged a man in connection to the riot and insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, after a Washington, DC, airport police officer helped identify him. In an affidavit filed in federal court, a special agent with the US Capitol Police says the man, John Lolos, was identified by a Metropolitan Washington
Continue Reading President Joe Biden recited a flurry of figures in a Friday speech in which he urged Congress to pass the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package he calls the American Rescue Plan. We fact-checked many of the statistical claims Biden made in the speech — and found Biden was highly factual, though there are some nuances
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday that he will allow the 50-50 Senate to officially organize so Democrats can take control of key committees in the chamber after a weeklong battle with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over the rights of the minority to stall legislation. The breakthrough came as GOP leaders were eagerly
Continue Reading One of the few US senators who led the effort to object to the electoral college results on January 6, Josh Hawley is now claiming that he was never trying to overturn the 2020 election. After being asked Friday by CNN’s Manu Raju about the rioters who believed the electoral vote could be changed —
Continue Reading The Department of Homeland Security, largely hollowed out over the last four years, is moving with urgency to staff agencies with people who had front row seats to the hardline immigration limits rolled out under former President Donald Trump, in order to rescind them. The department — the third largest in the US government —
Continue Reading President Joe Biden on Monday offered his most extensive comments since taking office on former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, telling CNN, “I think it has to happen.” Biden made the comment during a brief one-on-one interview with CNN in the halls of the West Wing. He acknowledged the effect it could have on his
Continue Reading It hasn’t even been a week since Chuck Schumer assumed his long-sought goal of becoming Senate majority leader. But he’s already been in a staring contest with Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, over the future of the institution. He faces outright opposition from Republicans over President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, including a $1.9 trillion
Continue Reading Despite the vocal pledges from some companies to take bold action following the deadly January 6 siege on the US Capitol, many of America’s corporate giants are instead taking a wait-and-see approach about their future political giving, a new CNN analysis shows. And even when the companies vowed to suspend campaign contributions, most declined to
Continue Reading Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday became the first of what could be a wave of Republicans from former President Donald Trump’s inner circle to chart a political future, launching her bid for Arkansas governor. The move positions Arkansas as a test of how engaged Trump, who publicly encouraged Sanders to run for governor, will be
Continue Reading President Joe Biden on Monday reinstated the Covid-19 travel restrictions on non-US citizens who have been in Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and much of Europe. Biden also extended the restrictions to travelers who have recently been to South Africa. The step, which was first reported by Reuters, came just one week after President Donald
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UPDATE: WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. House impeachment case against Donald Trump has been delivered to the Senate for his upcoming trial. House Democratic prosecutors made the ceremonial walk across the Capitol late Monday to deliver the charge of incitement of insurrection, but Republican senators are easing off their criticism of the former president. It’s
Continue Reading An election technology company that has been the focus of consistent conspiracy theories by Donald Trump and his allies has sued the former President’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani for defamation after he pushed the “Big Lie” about election fraud on his podcast and TV appearances. Dominion Voting Systems is seeking more than $1.3 billion in damages.
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