National Politics

The Justice Department is facing a tougher climb as it argues Capitol riot defendants should stay in jail — with federal judges pressing prosecutors to explain possible inconsistencies in their arguments in some of the most high-profile cases related to the insurrection this week. The apparent calculus prosecutors are using to determine whether they ask

Federal prosecutors have charged Thomas Webster, a former Marine and retired New York Police Department officer, with allegedly using an aluminum pole to assault a police officer during the Capitol riot on January 6. Prosecutor Benjamin Gianforti said that Webster, 52, turned himself into the FBI field office in New York’s Hudson Valley at 2:35

Former Vice President Mike Pence told a group of conservative lawmakers on Tuesday that he maintains a close personal friendship with former President Donald Trump, while noting that he plans to launch a political organization that will defend their administration’s record over the past four years. Rep. Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican who chairs the

Microsoft directly blamed Russia’s foreign intelligence service on Tuesday for a devastating security breach of at least nine federal agencies and dozens of private businesses, going further than US government officials have to date in their public attribution for the hack. Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Microsoft President Brad Smith said it would likely

On Tuesday, three of the Capitol police’s former top leaders and the acting chief of the Washington, DC police testified before the Senate about the cascading law enforcement failures that occurred on January 6 as rioters stormed the Capitol complex. There was no shortage of finger-pointing and blame-passing, but one big takeaway was clear: We’ve

Republican leaders in both chambers are maneuvering to keep all of their members in line against the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan, a move that would deny President Joe Biden a bipartisan victory and one that could scuttle the bill in the Senate if any Democrat breaks ranks. But the move amounts to a political

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, left Texas and traveled to Utah last week while the state was being rocked by severe winter storms. Paxton’s campaign spokesperson, Ian Prior, would not tell CNN when the couple had departed or returned but said the attorney general “did not leave Texas

When President Joe Biden welcomed his Canadian counterpart to the White House on Tuesday to “reinvigorate” a cross-border relationship strained under his predecessor, he did so by addressing a large television monitor. “The sooner we get this pandemic under control the better, and I look forward to seeing you in person in the future,” he

When President Joe Biden welcomed his Canadian counterpart to the White House on Tuesday to “reinvigorate” a cross-border relationship strained under his predecessor, he did so by addressing a large television monitor. “The sooner we get this pandemic under control the better, and I look forward to seeing you in person in the future,” he

The Senate confirmed Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be the next US Ambassador to the United Nations Tuesday. The vote was 78-20 and her confirmation comes less than a week before the United States’ presidency at the UN Security Council for the month of March. Following her swearing-in, she will travel to New York and is expected

A little known but powerful Senate official is being thrust into the spotlight this week as Democrats are eager to see whether an increase to the federal minimum wage will be kept in President Joe Biden’s Covid relief package. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has been advising the chamber on how its rules, protocols and precedents

The Senate confirmed Tom Vilsack as President Joe Biden’s agriculture secretary, sending the former Iowa governor to the same Cabinet position he served for the entirety of the Obama administration. The vote was 92-7. Vilsack, 70, will now be tasked with helping farmers hard hit by former president Donald Trump’s trade wars and the coronavirus

SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna took a conciliatory tone toward US senators on Tuesday as he acknowledged his company’s role in unwittingly facilitating a devastating security breach of at least nine federal agencies and dozens of private businesses in a suspected Russian spying campaign. Calling the security breach an “unfortunate and reckless operation,” Ramakrishna said SolarWinds

Law enforcement officials told lawmakers Tuesday they were prepared for the possibility of limited violence on January 6 at the US Capitol, but the intelligence available ahead of time did not warn of a coordinated attack like the insurrection that overwhelmed officers and led to multiple casualties. “The breach of the United States Capitol was

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson has carved out quite a niche for himself in recent weeks: He’s the guy willing to push wild conspiracy theories about what happened before, during and after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. Johnson has previously suggested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (California) impeached former President Donald Trump over