Politics

By Oren Liebermann and Ellie Kaufman, CNN The US military has approved religious exemptions to its Covid-19 vaccine mandate for 15 service members out of approximately 16,000 requests, according to the latest data from the services. The Marine Corps has approved religious exemptions for six Marines and the Air Force has approved nine requests for

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN The US ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday that Russia’s “intentions are very clear” with Ukraine, hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the UN Security Council in a tense meeting that Moscow was laying the groundwork to justify starting a war and preparing to launch an attack on

By Ellie Kaufman, CNN Reports of sexual assault increased by 25% and reports of sexual harassment increased by 150% at US military academies during the 2020-2021 academic year compared to the previous academic year, according to a Defense Department report released Thursday. The three US military academies received 161 reports of sexual assault compared to

By Hannah Sarisohn and Paul LeBlanc, CNN Illinois Democratic state lawmakers voted Thursday to remove nine Republicans from the state House after they refused to comply with the chamber’s mask mandate. The motion to remove the lawmakers — which passed 66-39 — followed an emotional appeal by Democratic state Rep. Lakesia Collins, who pleaded with

By Ryan Nobles, Manu Raju and Melanie Zanona, CNN House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has endorsed Harriet Hageman, the Trump-backed opponent of incumbent Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming — a rare endorsement from leadership in a divisive GOP primary, and one that marks the culmination of a simmering feud between the two powerful Republicans battling

By Gregory Krieg, CNN Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was greeted with a bouquet by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo when she endorsed him at the New York State Democratic Party convention. But a lot has changed since then and, on Thursday, as she introduced Cuomo’s successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, at the same event, Clinton, like her

By Devan Cole and Paradise Afshar, CNN The mayoral candidate in Louisville, Kentucky, who survived a shooting at his campaign headquarters earlier this week said Thursday that his family and campaign team are “traumatized again” after the suspected shooter was released from jail on bond. “Our criminal justice system is clearly broken. It is nearly

By Katie Lobosco, CNN Pressure is growing on the Biden administration to make it easier to discharge student loan debt in bankruptcy. President Joe Biden campaigned on reforming the bankruptcy system, which currently makes it extremely difficult for student loan debt to be discharged. Borrowers must meet a high burden of proof: that paying the

By Liz Stark and Gabe Cohen, CNN The Internal Revenue Service will stand up a second “surge team” to address its massive backlog of tax returns and correspondence, the National Taxpayer Advocate said during a congressional hearing Thursday. The IRS has already redirected roughly 1,200 employees back into entry-level clerical positions, where they are manually

By Kristin Wilson and Maegan Vazquez, CNN All members of Congress will be invited to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1, according to the House sergeant-at-arms, marking a return to a full House chamber after last year’s socially distant speech. House Sergeant-at-Arms William Walker wrote Thursday there will be coronavirus

By Tara Subramaniam, CNN Last week, an article claiming that the Biden administration planned to give away crack pipes to drug addicts went viral, eliciting outrage on the right and prompting a series of clarifications from the administration. The February 7 article from the Washington Free Beacon pointed to a federal grant program administered by