National Politics

President Joe Biden on Wednesday formally announced his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by September 11. Read his full remarks below: Good afternoon. I’m speaking to you today from the Roosevelt — the Treaty Room in the White House. The same spot where, on October of 2001, President George W. Bush informed our

Major items on President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda hang in the balance this month, hinging on Republicans’ willingness to cut deals and whether Democrats agree to pare back their ambitions at the risk of causing a backlash on the left. April is turning out to be a crucial month to fulfill Biden’s campaign pledge to

President Joe Biden spoke with two of his predecessors ahead of his Wednesday announcement that he will withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, drawing an end to America’s longest war. The separate phone conversations between the President and former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush as Biden prepared to make the announcement

President Joe Biden formally announced his decision to end America’s longest war on Wednesday, deeming the prolonged and intractable conflict in Afghanistan no longer aligned with American priorities. Biden said he would withdraw US troops from Afghanistan before September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon

The Republican-controlled Arkansas legislature this week passed a handful of bills that would add restrictions to the voting process in the state, sending them to the governor’s desk. One of the more controversial bills, dubbed the “no water bottles for voters” bill by opponents, would prohibit people from entering the perimeter of a polling place

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday evening that he disagreed with Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a fellow progressive, after she called for “no more policing, incarceration, and militarization” in the wake of Daunte Wright’s fatal encounter with police in Minnesota. “No I don’t,” Sanders told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room” when asked if

President Joe Biden on Wednesday named Erika Moritsugu to a senior-level Asian American and Pacific Islander liaison position, the White House announced in a statement. Moritsugu, whose official title will be deputy assistant to the President and Asian American and Pacific Islander senior liaison, “will bring her experience and expertise to the Biden-Harris Administration where

The entire 30-member NATO alliance was united in its concern about the massive buildup of Russian forces near Crimea and along Ukraine’s borders, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday. “What was striking today was every single ally expressed the same concerns,” said Blinken, speaking alongside US Defense Secretary Lloyd

A geophysicist who allegedly beat police officers who were trying to help injured rioters during the US Capitol siege will be jailed before trial, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, citing the man’s ham-handed attempt to flee to Switzerland as proof that he poses a literal flight risk. Judge Emmet Sullivan said Jeffrey Sabol was too

The Senate voted 92-6 to advance a bill Wednesday that would address the surge of hate crimes against Asian Americans, signaling broad bipartisan support and momentum for the measure. The bill, which would assign a Justice Department official to expedite reviews of potential Covid-19-related hate crimes and establish an online database, initially received pushback from

The White House is expected to name Erika Moritsugu to a senior-level Asian American and Pacific Islander liaison position, two sources familiar with the decision said Wedesday. The expected announcement comes less than a month after the White House committed to naming a senior-level AAPI liaison following pressure from Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and

President Joe Biden said at a CNN town hall on Tuesday that he remains opposed to calls for “defunding the police” — a rallying cry for activists seeking reforms in law enforcement. In response to a question about how to avoid overly constraining police while addressing racial disparities, Biden replied, “By number one, not defunding

The Biden administration intends to move forward with $23 billion in proposed arms sales to the United Arab Emirates even as it continues its review of pending weapons transfers, a State Department spokesperson told CNN Wednesday. The Trump administration last year pushed forward the controversial sale, which includes F-35 aircraft and armed drones, despite bipartisan

The House Oversight and Reform Committee voted on Wednesday to approve a bill that would grant statehood to Washington, DC, a Democratic priority that faces obstacles for final passage even when the party controls both chambers on Capitol Hill and the White House. The tally was 25-19. “Today is an historic day for our country

President Joe Biden on Wednesday formally announced his decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan before September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that led the US into its longest war. “We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan

Kristen Clarke, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, defended her record against some skeptical senators during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday as a groundswell of supporters says there’s an urgency for Clarke to take office and lead the team of federal prosecutors to address recent allegations of unconstitutional acts

Federal prosecutors in Washington, DC, will not pursue criminal charges against the US Capitol Police officer involved in the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt during the riot at the Capitol on January 6, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The Justice Department said it has cleared the officer involved and has closed its investigation, saying there

Almost a year after Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the Supreme Court’s liberals to cast the determinative vote to block a Louisiana abortion law, his opinion in the case is causing deep divisions among lower court judges and lawyers. Last June, Roberts, who had never voted against an abortion restriction, spelled out his thinking

It’s an image President Joe Biden kept returning to: the sight of helicopters evacuating Americans from Saigon during the last major battle of the Vietnam War. In the United States, the image has come to reflect the humiliating end to a prolonged and unpopular foreign conflict. The prospect of overseeing a similar fate in Kabul

Activist and nonprofit founder Rana Abdelhamid on Wednesday launched a Democratic primary challenge to Rep. Carolyn Maloney in New York’s 12th congressional district, marking the third straight election in which Maloney, who has been in Congress since 1993, will face intense opposition from party progressives. This time, though, the field will include a candidate with

Members of the Oath Keepers paramilitary group likely stored weapons at a hotel in Arlington, Virginia, as part of their plan to have an armed rapid-response force during the January 6 insurrection, federal prosecutors said. The new details flesh out previous accusations from prosecutors that members of the Oath Keepers assembled a “quick reaction force,”

Part of the fencing perimeter that has been around the White House complex since President Donald Trump was in office was removed on Wednesday morning. CNN observed crews taking down metal fencing that had been around the perimeter of the White House complex for months. Not all of the fencing was removed and most of

A group of House Foreign Affairs Committee lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to “urgently push” Saudi Arabia to lift restrictions on imports to Yemen, where the United Nations says nearly 50,000 people are already starving to death. “Since 2015, the restrictions imposed by the coalition have critically exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Yemen,”

Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, a long-serving lawmaker and top Republican on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, announced on Wednesday he is retiring at the end of his term. “I have an announcement I can’t think of a better place to make it than right here at the chamber I led many years ago. …

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that parts of the United States are “backsliding into the days of Jim Crow” by passing laws he says are reminiscent of when Black Americans had to pay poll taxes and pass other tests before casting their vote. “The cry for justice 400 years in the making is ringing out

A long-awaited US Army investigation concluded that while the use of military helicopters flying low at potentially dangerous altitudes over protesters in Washington, DC, last June after the death of George Floyd was not prohibited by federal law or policy, there was a “lack of understanding” regarding the “employment and command” of the helicopters. Given

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday promised to examine the practices of police departments around the country that commit civil rights violations in his first public comments since the police shooting death of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. In a brief virtual address to civil rights leaders attending the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action