National Politics

The press got its first glimpse of President Joe Biden’s Oval Office on Wednesday, showing how in a matter of hours the office has visibly transformed in both dramatic and subtle ways to reflect the taste and politics of the officeholder. Most keep an eye on what’s happening inside the office — what agreements are

President Joe Biden’s first full day in office on Thursday focused on rolling out his national strategy to get the coronavirus pandemic under control and signing several executive actions, including ramping up vaccination supplies and requiring international travelers to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test prior to traveling to the US. “Our national strategy

Senate Democrats are refusing to buckle to demands from Senate Republicans that they agree not to weaken filibusters against legislation, something many progressives are anxious to do in order to push through the Biden administration’s agenda as Democrats control the White House and both chambers of Congress for the first time in years. “I think

President Joe Biden intends to keep FBI Director Christopher Wray in his post, a senior administration official tells CNN, a sign of confidence for the bureau’s leader who has more than six years remaining in his term. This is not unexpected. During the transition, Biden signaled his plan to keep Wray on board — if

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is proposing that the Senate give former President Donald Trump’s legal team two weeks to prepare for the upcoming impeachment trial once the Senate receives the article and delay its start until mid-February. McConnell’s proposal to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer throws the timing of the trial further into doubt,

The US Army has changed its account of a key phone call that took place on January 6 as rioters stormed the US Capitol. More than two weeks after the riot, the Army put forward two senior generals to speak with reporters Thursday to explain their roles on that afternoon after conflicting accounts of what

The Army is now acknowledging that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the brother of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, was in the room for one of the key January 6 phone calls in which DC government and US Capitol Police were asking for National Guard troops to quell the unfolding violence at

The new administration is working doggedly in its first days in office, but President Joe Biden’s four-legged companions aren’t joining in just yet. Biden’s dogs have not yet moved into the White House, a source familiar told CNN, but the pups are anticipated to arrive at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue soon. The family’s pair of German

Landing a West Wing job is a dream-come-true for most any political staffer, even with the long hours, cramped working conditions and around-the-clock pressure. Doing it remotely, it turns out, is slightly less glamorous. “I would love to have seen and been there for what it was like before Covid,” an administration official said wistfully

The White House has ordered an intelligence review of Russian misdeeds ranging from the SolarWinds hack to alleged bounties on US troops, but will pursue an agreement with Moscow on an issue of mutual concern: nuclear arms control. “Even as we work with Russia to advance US interests, so too we work to hold Russia

The Bidens moved quickly on Wednesday to fire White House chief usher Timothy Harleth, who was installed by the Trumps, two sources with knowledge have confirmed to CNN. Harleth was hired by Melania Trump in 2017 to fill the important role of chief usher. Harleth came to the White House from Trump International Hotel DC,

Both chambers of Congress on Thursday approved a waiver to permit retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense in the Biden administration. Austin, who would be the first African American to run the department, had to be granted a waiver from a law requiring a defense secretary to wait seven years after

Newly sworn in President Joe Biden and his advisers are inheriting no coronavirus vaccine distribution plan to speak of from the Trump administration, sources tell CNN, posing a significant challenge for the new White House. The Biden administration has promised to try to turn the Covid-19 pandemic around and drastically speed up the pace of

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday rejected Republican demands to back away from an impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, even as she would not say when she would send the impeachment article to the Senate to begin the process. The timing of former Trump’s Senate impeachment trial after the House impeached him on

The Defense Department will pause construction of the wall along the US-Mexico border as it reviews President Joe Biden’s executive order calling for construction to grind to a halt. The Army Corps of Engineers, which provides direction and oversight of border projects, “will take the appropriate actions in accordance with the (executive order),” said Raini

The House on Thursday approved a waiver to permit retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense in the Biden administration. Austin, who would be the first African American to run the department, must be granted a waiver from a law requiring a defense secretary to wait seven years after active-duty service before

The Biden administration will seek a full five-year extension of a key nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia, according to a US official. The New START Treaty expires in just over two weeks on February 5. Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, will meet with President Joe Biden’s national security adviser,

Questions have arisen over the constitutionality of former President Donald Trump’s impending trial in the Senate. Trump is the first president to be impeached twice and would be the first ex-president to have his impeachment tried in the Senate while out of office. House Democrats are expected to send the articles of impeachment to the