National Politics

By Nicole Gaouette and Ellie Kaufman, CNN Senate Republicans and Democrats expressed deep frustration with the Biden administration Tuesday, complaining that Secretary of State Antony Blinken is the only official to testify on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan as both sides tried to lay blame for the chaotic exit. Blinken, appearing a day after testifying

By Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb and Elizabeth Stuart, CNN Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, President Donald Trump’s top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to “Peril,” a new

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN David Shahoulian, a senior Biden official at the Department of Homeland Security and influential figure on border issues, is leaving the department for personal reasons, a source familiar with the departure told CNN Tuesday, marking the latest shake-up at DHS. The resignation comes a day after Karen Olick, the chief of

By Ella Nilsen, CNN After decades of inaction from the United States on climate, President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats face a reckoning. Biden has big climate ambitions, vowing in April to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. The world is watching closely to see whether the US will deliver on that promise,

By Christina Carrega and Peter Nickeas, CNN Federal law enforcement officers will be banned from using neck restraints during arrests and using no-knock entries while executing warrants except in rare cases, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. Both the neck restraints and no-knock warrants have resulted in high-profile in-custody deaths in recent years that have spurred

By Tami Luhby, CNN The nation’s poverty rate rose to 11.4% last year, but the first two rounds of federal stimulus payments helped keep 11.7 million Americans out of poverty, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday. The payments, a key part of the unprecedented federal response to the economic havoc wreaked by the coronavirus

By Manu Raju, CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Senate Democrats are proposing new legislation to overhaul voting laws after months of discussions to get all 50 of their members behind a single bill, allowing their caucus to speak with one voice on the issue even though it stands virtually no chance of becoming law. The proposal

By Dan Merica and Eric Bradner, CNN The attempted recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom will reach its crescendo on Tuesday, with polls and ballot return data so far showing the Democratic governor in a strong position to stay in power in the nation’s largest Democratic state. The recall effort is a largely a mail-in

By Zachary Cohen, CNN A few months before rioters stormed the US Capitol, the Department of Homeland Security restricted the flow of open-source intelligence reports about “election-related threats” to law enforcement, citing First Amendment concerns, according to documents reviewed by CNN. The revelations not only add to a growing concerns about intelligence gathering, but they

By Gregory Krieg, CNN The city of Boston will select the two finalists for its November mayoral election on Tuesday in a preliminary contest that will have a historic result, no matter the outcome. There are five major contenders for the job, with City Councilor Michelle Wu leading the field in most recent polls. The

By Betsy Klein, CNN The Presidents’ club is teaming up to aid in a massive, bipartisan effort to welcome and support Afghan refugees that is being launched Tuesday. Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — along with former first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama — are serving as

By Maeve Reston, CNN Earlier this year, when California Gov. Gavin Newsom was searching for the right message to convince disengaged Democrats to vote against the effort to oust him in Tuesday’s recall election, it would have been impossible to imagine a more perfect foil than conservative talk radio host Larry Elder. In this deep

By Dan Merica, CNN President Joe Biden on Monday offered his full-throated support of California Gov. Gavin Newsom as the pair attempted to thwart the recall effort against the Democratic governor by linking former President Donald Trump to the lead Republican candidate. The President’s message on the eve of Election Day echoes the way Newsom

By Manu Raju and Lauren Fox, CNN Senate Democrats returned to Washington on Monday suggesting they were far away from reaching a deal on a $3.5 trillion economic package, raising fresh questions about whether all 50 members of their caucus can quickly unite behind the centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s agenda amid sharp divisions over

By Katie Bo Williams, CNN Afghanistan is no longer the US’ top concern among international terrorist threats to the American homeland, the nation’s top spy said at an intelligence and national security conference in Washington on Monday, even amid ongoing fears from some critics who argue that the country could become a haven for terrorist

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out fellow Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday after the West Virginia senator referred to her as “young lady” while responding to recent criticism. “In Washington, I usually know my questions of power are getting somewhere when the powerful stop referring to me as ‘Congresswoman’ and start

By Jason Hoffman and Christina Carrega, CNN The Biden administration is beginning the clemency process for certain inmates released to home confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic, the White House announced Monday. The process will start with a review of nonviolent drug offenders on CARES Act home confinement with four years or less to serve,

By Paul LeBlanc and Rebekah Riess, CNN Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that the state will punish county and city governments for requiring their employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19, threatening a $5,000 fine for each violation. DeSantis, calling it a way to “protect Florida jobs,” said at a news conference that “you