CNN – US Politics

By Alexandra Skores, CNN (CNN) — While public anxieties have loomed over the Northeast amid possible drone sightings, one sighting will soon bring holiday cheer across the country: Santa Claus. The North American Aerospace Defense Command is once again prepared to track Santa and his reindeer around the world. NORAD, which is responsible for protecting

By Katie Lobosco, CNN Washington (CNN) — Some Democratic lawmakers are pressuring the Biden administration to take further action on student loans before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, including finalizing some debt forgiveness it already approved. Trump hasn’t made specific promises on student loans, but canceling debt isn’t a policy priority like it has been

By Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump appears to be entertaining an American territorial expansion that, if he’s serious, would rival the Louisiana Purchase or the deal that netted Alaska from Russia. In the past week, he’s taunted Canadian officials by suggesting the US could absorb its northern neighbor and make it the

By Jeff Zeleny, CNN (CNN) — Former President Bill Clinton was admitted Monday afternoon to a Washington, DC, hospital, where he is undergoing testing and observation after developing a fever, his spokesman told CNN. “The president is fine,” Angel Urena, deputy chief of staff to Clinton, told CNN in an interview, adding the former president

By Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is not letting up on his suggestions that the US should retake the Panama Canal, an idea that has been rejected by the government of Panama, which has controlled the passage for decades. In social media posts and remarks to supporters, Trump has accused Panama of

By Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann and Katie Bo Lillis, CNN (CNN) — The number of US troops in Syria has regularly surged higher than the Pentagon has publicly disclosed since at least 2020, and in recent months increased to more than double the roughly 900 troops the US has long said are in Syria, multiple

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Sarah Ferris and Marshall Cohen, CNN Washington (CNN) — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a lawsuit Monday asking a federal judge to block the official release of a long-awaited House Ethics Committee report about his potential misconduct while in office. Gaetz filed the lawsuit around the same time that CNN and other

By CNN staff (CNN) — The House Ethics Committee on Monday released a report that found evidence that former Rep. Matt Gaetz paid thousands of dollars for sex and drugs, including allegedly paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017. Read the report here: Gaetz sued in federal court to prevent the report’s release. Read

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — It was June 2021 when my phone first rang with a call from a Russian number. I was working from home, seated at my dining room table in the middle of the afternoon, and suspected it was spam. Instead, it was Paul Whelan. That phone call was the first

By Sam Fossum, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden announced Monday that he is taking 37 people off federal death row to serve out life sentences behind bars — a decision that leaves only three federal prisoners awaiting execution when President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month. “Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37

By Sam Fossum, CNN (CNN) — Retiring Texas congresswoman and former House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger has been experiencing “dementia issues” in recent months and is living in an independent living facility, her son Brandon Granger told the Dallas Morning News on Sunday. “It’s been a hard year,” he said, according to the Texas

CNN By Kaanita Iyer, CNN Washington (CNN) — As Joe Manchin prepares to leave Congress after nearly 15 years, the West Virginia senator — who left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent earlier this year — is further distancing himself from his former party, calling the Democratic brand “toxic.” “The D-brand has been

CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — Whether Elon Musk is the real “president,” merely the “prime minister” or just Donald Trump’s multibillionaire enforcer, he’s carving out an unprecedented role that could raise conflicts of interest for the new administration. The dust is still settling following the Tesla and SpaceX pioneer’s role last week

CNN By Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump appears to be entertaining an American territorial expansion that, if he’s serious, would rival the Louisiana Purchase or the deal that netted Alaska from Russia. In the past week, he’s taunted Canadian officials by suggesting the US could absorb its northern neighbor and make it

By Eric Bradner and Aaron Pellish, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday, in his first rally-like speech since the November election, threatened to retake control of the Panama Canal, pushed back on criticism of Elon Musk’s influence, and suggested he could soon meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump’s speech in Phoenix, at

CNN By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — For Ivanka Trump’s entire adult life, she worked for her father. When Donald Trump was a real estate mogul, she was designing his next hotel. When he was on a reality TV show, she was in his television boardroom. When he was running for office, she was on

CNN By Kaanita Iyer, CNN Washington (CNN) — As Joe Manchin prepares to leave Congress after nearly 15 years, the West Virginia senator — who left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent earlier this year — is further distancing himself from his former party, calling the Democratic brand “toxic.” “The D-brand has been

By Priscilla Alvarez and Tierney Sneed, CNN Washington (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s team is assessing multiple options to fulfill his long-promised pledge to end birthright citizenship, according to two sources familiar with the discussions, teeing up a legal fight with the expectation that the Supreme Court would ultimately have to rule on the matter.

CNN By Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — Two US Navy pilots ejected safely after their fighter jet was shot down over the Red Sea on Saturday in an apparent friendly fire incident, US Central Command said in a statement. The pilots were recovered, and one of the crew members sustained minor injuries, according to initial