National Politics

By CNN President Joe Biden delivered his 2023 State of the Union address on Tuesday. Here’s his speech as prepared for delivery and released by the White House. Mr. Speaker. Madam Vice President. Our First Lady and Second Gentleman. Members of Congress and the Cabinet. Leaders of our military. Mr. Chief Justice, Associate Justices, and

By Katie Bo Lillis, Jeremy Herb, Josh Campbell, Zachary Cohen, Kylie Atwood and Natasha Bertrand, CNN US intelligence officials believe that the recently recovered Chinese spy balloon is part of an extensive surveillance program run by the Chinese military, according to multiple American officials familiar with the intelligence. The surveillance program, which includes a number

By Kevin Liptak, CNN When President Joe Biden took to the House Chamber on Tuesday for his annual State of the Union address, his message was one of unadulterated optimism — even in the face of open hostility. The spectacle of Biden smiling and offering a pointed riposte through multiple rounds of heckling from some

By Priscilla Alvarez and Ariane de Vogue, CNN The Biden administration told the Supreme Court Tuesday that its intent to let the coronavirus public health emergency expire in May will moot the ongoing case over a Trump-era border restriction. “Absent other relevant developments, the end of the public health emergency will (among other consequences) terminate

By Clare Foran, CNN Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave a combative speech Tuesday evening in response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, drawing a sharp contrast with Biden as she delivered a series of blistering criticisms of the president. Sanders called Biden “unfit to serve as commander in chief,” said his

By Oren Liebermann, CNN China refused a conversation with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin following the downing of the suspected Chinese balloon, the Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday. The Defense Department submitted a request for a call between Austin and China’s Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe immediately after the US fighter jets shot

By Haley Britzky, CNN The US Navy released photos Tuesday of its recovery effort of a suspected Chinese spy balloon, which US fighter jets shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. The photos from Sunday show sailors from a Navy explosive disposal team pulling debris from the deflated balloon onto a boat. The debris

By Haley Britzky, CNN A senior American military officer notified lawmakers in January that China has more land-based fixed and mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launchers than the US, according to a letter sent to Congress. The letter from Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of US Strategic Command which oversees the US nuclear arsenal says that as

By Phil Mattingly, Kevin Liptak and Shawna Mizelle, CNN Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is expected to depart the Biden administration soon, according to two people familiar with the matter, marking the first Cabinet secretary departure of President Joe Biden’s presidency. Walsh has been offered a job heading the NHL’s Players’ Association, the people said. His

By Ella Nilsen, CNN As the Colorado River sinks further into crisis and tensions rise between Western states over how to divvy up painful water cuts, a bipartisan group of senators are formalizing a new caucus to examine how Washington could help. What began as an informal group convened by Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of

By Annie Grayer and Melanie Zanona, CNN After House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced his Democratic appointments to a select committee on the threat posed by China, the top Republican chairing the panel, GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, gave Jeffries some surprising feedback: his stamp of approval. Gallagher felt like the roster was made

By Jeremy Diamond and Priscilla Alvarez, CNN The White House tried to flip the script on border security politics, accusing House Republicans of “staging political stunts” and undermining border security ahead of a House Oversight Committee hearing Tuesday that probed the Biden administration’s handling of the US southern border. In a memo obtained by CNN,