CNN – US Politics

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — A major Second Amendment case pending at the Supreme Court is firing up marijuana legalization advocates who fear the Trump administration’s defense of a 1968 gun ban could expose millions of recreational pot users to prosecution, even as a growing number of states relax their cannabis laws. The 6-3

By Kevin Liptak, Alayna Treene, Tal Shalev, Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — For months, Israeli and American intelligence agencies — including the CIA — had been secretly watching Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for just the right moment. They were monitoring for his daily patterns — where he lived, whom he met with, how he communicated

By Manu Raju, Alison Main, Sarah Ferris, CNN Houston (CNN) — Sen. John Cornyn stood before TV cameras in Houston recently and issued a warning to Ken Paxton, the man threatening to take the seat he’s held for nearly two dozen years: Things were about to get a whole lot uglier. “After we get through

By Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Top Capitol Hill Democrats, and a small number of Republicans, watched in alarm Saturday as the US launched a major assault on Iran, decrying President Donald Trump’s call for the overthrow of another foreign government without their expressed approval. Trump ordered the strikes on Tehran just days before the

By Dan Berman, Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Legal experts are already skeptical of President Donald Trump’s constitutional authority to launch new military action against Iran without Congress’ approval, especially if it leads to a prolonged conflict. Like with the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities last summer and the January military capture of Venezuelan

By Jeff Zeleny, CNN College Station, Texas (CNN) — It may sound like James Talarico is getting ahead of himself when he talks about delivering an election night surprise in November, right here in Texas, where a Democratic senator has not been elected in his lifetime. Yet he insists he’s not being boastful or presumptuous,

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s announcement of a “massive and ongoing” US military campaign against Iran — and his explicit call for the country’s citizens to shake off their oppressive leadership — put on display his fresh appetite for geopolitical risk and thrust his presidency into a deeper period of uncertainty.

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration on Friday formally designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, the latest move to ratchet up pressure and penalize Iran for its history of imprisoning US citizens. It is the first such designation under an executive order signed last September meant to deter countries

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — Authorities say they now know who kidnapped and strangled 7-year-old Morgan Violi nearly 30 years ago. Prosecutors say Robert Scott Froberg admitted to taking the girl in July 1996 during a prison escape. They say he snatched her near a Bowling Green, Kentucky, apartment building, drove her in a

By Arlette Saenz, CNN (CNN) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris recorded a robocall encouraging voters to support Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary for Senate in Texas, a source familiar with the matter said. “This is Kamala Harris, and I’m calling to encourage you to please go vote for my friend Jasmine Crockett

By Haley Britzky, Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — When President Donald Trump visited Fort Bragg, North Carolina, earlier this month, the commander of the elite Army Delta Force responsible for carrying out the operation to seize Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro made clear there was one man in particular who deserved the highest military honor: Chief

By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — Members of Congress are raising questions after a photograph they say shows Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick alongside Jeffrey Epstein on the late sex offender’s private island was briefly removed from the Justice Department’s website. The image had been hosted in the department’s online repository of Epstein-related files uploaded in

By Jennifer Hansler, Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — In his first comments about Saturday’s US military strikes against Iran, President Donald Trump claimed in a video posted to social media that Iran has been building missiles that “could soon reach the American homeland.” It’s an argument he also made in his

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Transportation Security Administration workers will receive only a portion of their next paycheck, which they are set to receive as soon as Friday, according to a union official. The reduced pay comes as the partial government shutdown ends its second week with no resolution in sight. The impasse could

By Kevin Liptak, CNN CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (CNN) — When President Donald Trump arrived at the deepwater port here Friday to talk about his energy agenda, the three Republicans locked in a bitter battle for Texas’ Senate seat might have hoped for a surprise: an endorsement. It never came. Trump, who has declined to back

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN (CNN) — The line Joe Biden used to put into nearly every big speech — “I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future” — is a long way from what he says in private now. These days, multiple people who’ve spoken to him over the last year say, Biden often punctuates

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — The extraordinary number of dueling opinions in the Supreme Court’s tariff case, laying bare divisions among the justices, also became the basis for a punch line. At the courtroom lectern this week in a dispute between an energy-pipeline company and the state of Michigan, lawyer John

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — As GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw and Sen. Ted Cruz prepared to board the same flight from Houston to Washington in recent months, the two famously brash Republicans had a tense exchange that now looms large over Crenshaw’s battle for political survival. Crenshaw accused Cruz of

CNN By Alexandra Banner, CNN Nearly 8,000 images from around the world were submitted for the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 competition. In the end, an Australian photographer claimed the top prize for capturing a tender moment of elephant seal pups nuzzling in a rockpool. Here’s what else you need to know to get