National Politics

By Taylor Romine, CNN The federal government is suing Arizona for placing shipping containers at the border as a temporary wall, according to court documents filed Wednesday. In August, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, issued an executive order telling the state’s Department of Emergency and Military Affairs to use shipping containers to fill in

By Kristin Wilson and Jack Forrest, CNN House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s official portrait was unveiled in a ceremony Wednesday at the US Capitol, with speeches from old allies and political sparring-mates who reminisced on her historic tenure. The painting, which depicts Pelosi standing before the speaker’s chair in the House chamber and holding a gavel,

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN An Ohio man who allegedly threatened to kill an Arizona state election official during the 2022 midterm election season is now facing federal charges, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. Joshua Russell, 44, allegedly left voicemails for an unnamed election official who worked for the Arizona secretary of state’s office in the

By Jake Tapper, Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent A group of retired ambassadors, all of whom served as chief of mission at the US Embassy in Afghanistan, have written a letter to congressional leaders pushing them to include the Afghan Adjustment Act in the omnibus spending bill. The legislation “keeps our deep and binding commitments

By Stella Chan, CNN The man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, said there was “evil in Washington” and had also planned to target President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and actor Tom Hanks, a San Francisco Police Department official testified Wednesday. “There is evil in Washington, what they

By Jeremy Diamond, CNN Matt Hill, a longtime communications aide to President Joe Biden, is leaving the White House for the Department of Commerce to steer communications for the implementation of the administration’s multi-billion-dollar investment in the semiconductor industry. Hill will serve as the communications director for the newly established CHIPS program office, which is

By Chandelis Duster, CNN A conservative legal group led by former top Trump aide Stephen Miller has emerged as a frequent opponent to several Biden administration initiatives by mounting court challenges, succeeding in blocking policies they say are examples of reverse discrimination. Miller touts America First Legal as “the long-awaited answer to the (American Civil

By Dianne Gallagher and Shania Shelton, CNN Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has called on state lawmakers to eliminate general election runoffs. “Georgia is one of the only states in country with a General Election Runoff,” Raffensperger, a Republican, said in a statement on Wednesday. “We’re also one of the only states that always

By Zachary Cohen and Sara Murray, CNN Special counsel Jack Smith has issued a subpoena to local officials in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, for information related to the 2020 election, a spokesperson for the county told CNN. “Yes, we received a subpoena from the Department of Justice’s special counsel regarding the 2020 election. We have nothing

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN Ukrainian officials traveled to the United States last week to push for support for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute top-level Russian officials for the crime of aggression. Although there are a number of different bodies working towards accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Ukrainian Ambassador at

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN The end of a Trump-era border policy next week will “likely increase migration flows immediately,” and migrants who are in encampments along Mexico’s northern border may attempt to cross into the United States, according to a Homeland Security intelligence memo reviewed by CNN. Administration officials have been bracing for an influx

By Tierney Sneed, CNN The US Justice Department on Wednesday filed what it is describing as a first-of-its-kind settlement in a racial discrimination case challenging a so-called “crime-free housing ordinance.” The proposed consent decree was filed Wednesday in a lawsuit the Justice Department brought in 2019 against the central California city of Hesperia, alleging that

By Clare Foran, Kristin Wilson and Daniella Diaz, CNN The House voted Wednesday evening to pass a stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown at the end of this week with funding currently set to expire on Friday at midnight. The vote was 224 to 201 with nine Republicans joining with Democrats to vote in

By Devan Cole, CNN A nurse at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility in Texas sued the department Tuesday over its decision to offer abortions services in certain cases and abortion counseling to veterans, claiming the new rules violate her religious beliefs. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Waco, Texas, comes months

By Katelyn Polantz and Annie Grayer, CNN The House select committee investigating the Capitol riot is dropping several of its pursuits for January 6-related phone records, according to court filings this week, as the panel winds down before it expires at the end of this year. The committee sent out dozens of subpoenas seeking call

By Sarah Fortinsky, CNN Survivors of the Club Q mass shooting directly tied Republicans’ rhetoric to the massacre at the Colorado LGBTQ nightclub and detailed their experiences on the night of the shooting, in prepared testimony read before the House Oversight and Reform committee Wednesday. “To the politicians and activists who accuse LGBTQ people of

By Tierney Sneed, CNN A bill that allows federal judges — who have increasingly become targets of threats, violence and even assassination plots — to shield certain personal information about them from public view is poised to finally become law. But the legislation is also rankling court watchdogs who contend the bill could complicate efforts