National Politics

By Eric Bradner, CNN Former President Donald Trump waded into Pennsylvania’s US Senate race on Wednesday, endorsing Sean Parnell, an Army veteran and former congressional candidate, in the competitive Republican primary. With Republican Sen. Pat Toomey not seeking reelection, Democrats see Pennsylvania as one of their top pickup opportunities in the 2022 midterms. Republicans, meanwhile,

By Geneva Sands, CNN As the United States-backed government in Afghanistan fell to the Taliban and US troops raced to leave the country, White supremacist and anti-government extremists have expressed admiration for what the Taliban accomplished, a worrying development for US officials who have been grappling with the threat of domestic violent extremism. That praise

By Phil Mattingly, CNN Two top Biden administration economic officials joined a call with top Senate Democratic aides on Wednesday as the White House pressed to maintain unified strategy for the looming fight over the debt ceiling, according to multiple people familiar with the call. President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats are entering September braced

By Kate Bennett, CNN First lady Jill Biden on Wednesday traveled to the Marine Corps Base at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, a trip that, according to the White House, included meetings with military families. Biden’s visit comes amid several weeks of military upheaval and emotional fallout in the wake of President Joe Biden’s

By Kevin Liptak, CNN President Joe Biden will visit storm-ravaged Louisiana on Friday as the state attempts to recover from the category 4 Hurricane Ida that plowed into the Gulf Coast over the weekend. The White House said Biden would survey storm damage and meet with state and local officials. Since the storm began gathering

By Alex Rogers and Ali Zaslav, CNN Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that “there isn’t going to be an impeachment” of President Joe Biden over the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, noting that Democrats control the House and Senate. “I think the way these behaviors get adjusted in this country is at

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN “The majority” of Afghans who worked for the United States during its two-decade military campaign were likely left behind in the chaotic and rushed evacuation from Afghanistan, a senior State Department official said Wednesday. The official said they did not have a specific count of the Afghan Special Immigrant (SIV) applicants

By Kate Sullivan, CNN President Joe Biden on Wednesday blasted the Texas state law that bans abortion after as early as six weeks into pregnancy as “extreme” and said it “blatantly violates” a woman’s constitutional right to have an abortion, as affirmed by the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. “Today, Texas law SB8 went

By Marshall Cohen, Hannah Rabinowitz and Olanma Mang, CNN The Justice Department on Wednesday secured its 50th guilty plea in the January 6 insurrection, a key milestone as it nears its 600th arrest in the massive investigation. In the eight months since the attack on the US Capitol, the investigation has ballooned into a nationwide

By Tara Subramaniam and Holmes Lybrand, CNN On Monday, the last American military planes left Afghanistan, bringing weeks of evacuations to a close and raising questions about what’s next for thousands of Afghans the US helped evacuate. In the days and weeks leading up to the withdrawal deadline, a number of Republicans and conservative media

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin threatened US embassy staff in Tajikistan, outraged that they would not assist him in carrying a huge amount of money through the country as he attempted to travel to Afghanistan for an unauthorized evacuation effort, The Washington Post reported. The Post reported that Mullin called the US

By Jeremy Herb, Daniella Diaz, Melanie Zanona and Sarah Fortinsky, CNN More than a dozen Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee joined with Republicans to easily approve a measure boosting the Pentagon’s budget by $24 billion as part of a debate for a sweeping defense bill that authorizes spending levels and outlines priorities for