National Politics

A Russian military exercise triggered an unusual warning at a critical US military base in Germany on Saturday that ballistic missiles had been launched, according to multiple US defense officials. The warning at Ramstein Air Base resulted in several minutes of uncertainty and alarm until an all-clear was sounded, according to the officials. The initial

The Presidential Inaugural Committee on Tuesday urged Americans to refrain from traveling for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ inauguration on January 20 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Biden and Harris will take their oaths of office at the US Capitol during a significantly scaled-down inauguration ceremony that will implement “vigorous health and

Alejandro Mayorkas has an enormous task before him if confirmed to lead the Department of Homeland Security — but first, he faces Senate scrutiny, which could force him to again contend with some controversies from his past, including from his previous tenure at the department. The Cuban-born Mayorkas, 61, was among President-elect Joe Biden’s earliest

Dr. Anthony Fauci would recommend that both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence receive the Covid-19 vaccine, which has been approved for emergency use authorization and is being rolled out nationwide. “You still want to protect people who are, you know, very important to our country right now,” Fauci, the director of the

The Supreme Court on Tuesday again sided with religious groups in Colorado and New Jersey that argued that the states’ covid-related restrictions on worship services violated religious liberty rights, the latest in a string of rulings against pandemic guidelines in recent weeks. In unsigned orders, the justices wiped away lower court opinions in challenges that

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recognized Joe Biden’s victory on Tuesday in a floor speech, where he congratulated the President-elect but also praised Donald Trump’s presidency. Below is the text of the Kentucky Republican’s floor speech provided by McConnell’s office: “Over the last four years, our country has benefited from a presidential term filled with

President-elect Joe Biden declared Monday, hours after the Electoral College made his victory over President Donald Trump official, that “the rule of law, our Constitution and the will of the people prevailed” over Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the election. “The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago.

In an exclusive interview, Rep. Paul Mitchell, Republican of Michigan, told CNN that his disgust and disappointment with President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the election have led him to request that the Clerk of the House change his party affiliation to “independent,” and to notify GOP leaders in a letter that

President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of state is expected to visit the State Department and meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday for the first time since Biden’s victory, according to three sources familiar with the planning. The meeting between Antony Blinken and Pompeo — planned to occur days after the Electoral

Attorney General William Barr on Monday said he would resign next week, ending a tenure in which the President Donald Trump loyalist carried the administration’s “law and order” message but ultimately dealt the most credible blow to Trump’s unfounded claims that the 2020 election was littered with fraud. His departure was announced by the President

Congressional leaders are engaged in last-ditch negotiations to secure a long-awaited Covid-19 relief deal with expectations growing that Democrats will have to accept a more narrow agreement than they originally pushed for in order to get the package done. With Capitol Hill leaders racing to finalize a massive spending bill to keep the government open

Joe Biden was once again declared the winner of the presidential election Monday after members of the Electoral College gathered in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to cast their ballots. It’s a constitutionally mandated ritual that’s typically no more than a curious afterthought following a presidential election, but the ceremonial vote took

A bevy of Senate Republicans, after refusing for weeks to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential race, still wouldn’t do so Monday evening even after the Electoral College made the win official. “I’m not going to comment on that,” said Sen. Jim Inhofe, a veteran Republican from Oklahoma. “I don’t have anything for you

Voters voted. States counted the votes. Challenges were heard and rejected. Now the Electoral College has made President-elect Joe Biden’s victory completely official. The time for President Donald Trump’s repeated baseless allegations of fraud is over, but that doesn’t mean the drama has ended. Lawmakers follow an archaic timeline set out the Constitution and US

The Trump administration will sanction Turkey for its purchase of a Russian surface-to-air missile system more than a year after Ankara took delivery of the weapons, a delay that so frustrated Congress that lawmakers made the sanctions mandatory. Lawmakers included a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 that requires President Donald Trump

The Pentagon has added more supporters of President Donald Trump to the Defense Policy Board following the removal of several high-profile members last month. “Today, the Department of Defense announced that it intends to appoint former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, Ambassador Thomas Carter, Dr. Edward Luttwak, Mr. Scott O’Grady, Mr.

Democratic leaders are now confronting a crucial decision: Whether to abandon aid for states and cities in order to get a slimmed-down Covid-19 relief deal or whether to make a last-ditch attempt for a bigger plan even if it risks an accord in the final days of the 116th Congress. The decision isn’t an easy

House and Senate appropriators are planning to unveil Tuesday a $1.4 trillion spending bill to fund federal agencies until the end of September 2021, giving Congress little margin for error to avoid another government shutdown by Friday — with party leaders still at odds over what provisions should be included to give Americans relief from

“Credible threats of violence” have prompted Michigan authorities to close the state capitol to the public and shutter House and Senate offices, a spokeswoman said, on the day the Electoral College will formally declare Joe Biden the President-elect. The tension surrounding Monday’s procedure — a typically routine event affirming a presidential victory — was underscored

US officials suspect that Russian-linked hackers were behind the recent data breach of multiple federal agencies, including the Treasury and Commerce Departments, but are continuing to investigate the incident, a senior administration official told CNN Monday. While US officials believe that a Russia-linked entity or Russian individuals are responsible for the attacks, they have not