National Politics

When Andrea Hall leads the nation in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at Joe Biden’s inauguration next week, she’ll not only represent the kind of progress envisioned by the incoming president but she’ll also deliver the words with a sense of mission, doing her part to bring together a divided country. “Everything it expresses, I

Days before the violent insurrection at the US Capitol, the then-US House Sergeant at Arms sent a memo to members of Congress banning tours of buildings on January 6, the day lawmakers gathered inside to certify Joe Biden’s victory, according to a copy of the memo obtained by CNN. The lockdown was in response to

The first confirmation hearing for a crucial position in the Biden administration has been postponed from Friday until Tuesday of next week. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence postponed Friday’s confirmation hearing for President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to be the next director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, the committee’s leadership said in a statement Thursday

One is dropping in on the White House phone operators, addressing troops at bases across the country, paying a visit to national guardsmen in place for the inauguration and speaking by phone with his successor. The other is holed up inside, silenced on social media, resisting entreaties to deliver a farewell address and refusing to

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson painted a scathing picture of his old boss President Donald Trump as someone who made uninformed decisions that were not based in reality — a stark contrast to Trump’s top diplomat Mike Pompeo, who is heaping praise on the outgoing President in his final days in office. “His understanding

A pheasant took flight from the White House Thursday afternoon. Toted by Debbie Meadows, wife of White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, the taxidermy bird was moved out of Meadows’ West Wing office, among other boxes and souvenirs from his time in the administration, and placed into the trunk of a waiting SUV. With

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday announced that retired Lt. General Russel Honoré will lead a review of the “security infrastructure” of Capitol Hill, following a violent riot that left five people dead earlier this month. “To protect our Democracy, we must now subject the security of the U.S. Capitol Complex to rigorous scrutiny,” Pelosi

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff recalled their first date in a rare joint interview with CNN’s Abby Phillip, for a CNN special report airing Sunday on the barrier-breaking vice president and her historic career. In a short clip that aired Friday, Harris and Emhoff, who have been married for more than

Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, under pressure from his Black constituents over his decision to initially support objections to Congress’ certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory last week, explained his decision-making in a letter Thursday but did not apologize for sowing doubt about election security. Lankford was among several Republican senators who had planned to dispute

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday announced that retired Lt. General Russel Honoré will lead a review of the “security infrastructure” of Capitol Hill, following a violent riot that left five people dead earlier this month. “To protect our Democracy, we must now subject the security of the U.S. Capitol Complex to rigorous scrutiny,” Pelosi

The incoming Biden administration plans to retire the name for the coronavirus vaccine effort under President Donald Trump — Operation Warp Speed — with a transition official for the incoming president telling CNN they are “moving to a new phase” of the coronavirus response. “Operation Warp Speed was the Trump administration’s name for their response.

The National Mall will be closed to the general public on Inauguration Day due to security concerns, the National Park Service announced Friday. The temporary public closure of the National Mall began at 11 a.m. ET on Friday and will extend through at least Thursday, January 21. The statement says protests will be allowed in

When Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner shared their decision to pick up and move their family to Washington from New York four years ago, multiple sources who know the couple said the idea was the White House years would allow easy entree to their ambitious next steps: Kushner would become a powerful player in global