CNN – US Politics

By Michelle Watson and Rachel Janfaza, CNN An Illinois appellate court on Thursday dismissed an effort by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker to keep an emergency school mask mandate in effect for the entire state. The court, however, said the ruling does not apply to local mandates, and the Chicago Public Schools district — which was

By Sean Lyngaas and Phil Mattingly, CNN Officials from multiple US agencies met Thursday with executives from big US banks to discuss how they might respond to Russian hacking threats as US officials warn that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time, five people briefed on the meeting told CNN. The meeting — which covered

By Sonnet Swire and Rachel Janfaza, CNN US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy announced Friday that he has tested positive for Covid-19. Murthy wrote in a long thread on Twitter that his wife and 5-year-old son were also positive for the virus and had mild symptoms. His 4-year-old daughter, who was the first in his

By Melanie Zanona, CNN Rep. Jim Hagedorn, a Minnesota Republican who had been battling kidney cancer, has died, his wife announced Friday. He was 59. “It is with a broken heart, shattered spirit and overwhelming sadness I share my husband Congressman Jim Hagedorn passed away peacefully last night,” his wife, Jennifer Carnahan, wrote in a

By Eva McKend, CNN An exhibit highlighting pioneering Black Americans is on display at the Executive Residence as the Biden administration aims to draw a connection between groundbreaking figures of the past and the historic firsts in the ranks of White House personnel during Black History Month. The collection, presented by the Office of the

By Ella Nilsen, CNN President Joe Biden pledged during his first days in office that 40% of federal funds for climate and clean energy initiatives would be prioritized for underserved communities — a key pillar of his environmental justice agenda. On Friday, the administration announced that around 29% of the US population is eligible for

By Jasmine Wright and Natasha Bertrand, CNN When Vice President Kamala Harris enters the famed Hotel Bayerischer Hof on Friday in Munich, she’ll do so under the largest international gaze of her career. She leads the American delegation to the Munich Security Conference on Friday as Russia creeps closer to mounting what US officials have

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