Politics

By Devan Cole, CNN Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Sunday defended his decision to approve a statewide ban on face mask mandates earlier this year, citing a low coronavirus case rate at the time — a rate that is now rapidly rising. “Well, that was the will of the General Assembly. I signed it. At

By Chandelis Duster, Kaitlan Collins and Lauren Fox, CNN Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey on Sunday warned against treating federal funding as “Monopoly money” as negotiations on how to pay for a bipartisan infrastructure bill ramp up ahead of a critical week. “A very, very important category for me is how all this is going to

By Chandelis Duster, CNN Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that the US is “going in the wrong direction” as the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise, particularly among unvaccinated Americans. “If you look at the inflection of the curve of new cases and, as you said in the run-in to this interview, that it

By Daniella Diaz, Melanie Zanona and Aaron Pellish, CNN House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Sunday she has appointed GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger to the House select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, bolstering the Republican presence on the panel after GOP leadership pulled its appointees last week. “Today, I am

By Jeremy Herb and Marshall Cohen, CNN When Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president in 2016, a little-known businessperson received a prime convention speaking slot just minutes before the nominee: Tom Barrack. “I’m here because Donald Trump is one of my closest friends for 40 years,” Barrack told the crowd in Cleveland, beaming

By Jeremy Herb, CNN A National Security Agency review of its intercepts did not find any evidence that Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s communications were intercepted by the NSA, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Carlson had claimed that the agency was spying on him and planned to leak his communications to take

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN Deployed to Iraq in 2003, US Marine Corps field radio operator Joanna Sweatt took cover in tight-spaced bunkers for hours at a time — a tour of service laden with the stresses of being in a war zone that led to a blood clotting disease. Now, more than a decade after

By Sunlen Serfaty and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN The Department of Justice will not open a civil investigation into the Covid-19 response in state nursing homes in New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan, after the department was seeking to determine whether policies issued during the pandemic requiring Covid-19 patients to be admitted into the facilities may have

By Kevin Liptak, CNN The Biden administration is debating a series of steps to further contain the Covid-19 pandemic, which, after 18 months, is again surging in parts of the country where vaccination rates are low. A senior administration health official said the government is “actively exploring” how to provide extra vaccine shots to vulnerable

By Ryan Nobles and Natasha Bertrand, CNN David Buckley, the newly named staff director for the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection, was found to be retaliating against a whistleblower during his time as the CIA inspector general, according to a report by the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security.

By Rachel Janfaza, CNN In his first day on the job, Tom Manger — the new chief of the US Capitol Police — said Friday that he would be “a fool to not be concerned” about the threat of more attacks on the Capitol, especially given chatter on extremists’ forums about possible action in August.

By Marshall Cohen Yet another US Capitol suspect was caught this week, all thanks to his Bumble match. Prosecutors say Andrew Taake of Texas used the dating app Bumble while in Washington on January 6. The match asked if he was near the Capitol and he said he was there “from the very beginning.” He

By Oren Liebermann and Ellie Kaufman, CNN The Department of Defense has experienced about 2,000 breakthrough Covid-19 cases among its more than 2 million fully vaccinated personnel, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Cesar Santiago-Santini told CNN in a statement, but it’s unclear how many are a result of the Delta variant. “Like the civilian sector, we are

By Sonnet Swire, CNN This week, Senate Republicans blocked a key vote to start debate on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill long sought by President Joe Biden, leaving his political agenda potentially on the brink. Meanwhile, the White House toughened its tone regarding Covid-19 as the Delta variant continued to spread and some cities reassessed

By Oren Liebermann, Ellie Kaufman and Jeremy Herb, CNN The Nebraska National Guard has begun canceling training events as other Guard units across the country prepare to take even more drastic measures if Congress doesn’t reimburse the National Guard Bureau for the more than half a billion dollars spent securing the Capitol in the months

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter Florida’s attorney general asked the Supreme Court on Friday to step in on an emergency basis to block Covid-19 protocols put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requiring the cruise lines to meet certain conditions before they can sail again. The dispute comes

By Erica Orden, CNN A federal magistrate judge on Friday ordered Tom Barrack, a longtime associate of former President Donald Trump who was indicted earlier this week on charges of illegal foreign lobbying, released from jail pending trial, freeing him on a bail package that includes a $250 million bond secured by $5 million in