National Politics

By Andrew Kaczynski and Winter Hawk, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, justified the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack and spread baseless conspiracy theories claiming the initial break-in was a false flag operation carried out by leftist groups disguised as Trump supporters. In comments made immediately after

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — Two Iranian citizens are facing federal charges in connection to a drone strike that killed three US Army soldiers and injured dozens more in Jordan early this year, the US Justice Department announced Monday. The men, 42-year-old Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi and 38-year-old Mohammad Abedini, are charged with conspiring to

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is trying to tamp down concerns about his history of vaccine skepticism as he meets with GOP senators who will vote on whether to confirm him as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy on Monday told

By Kara Scannell, Jeremy Herb and Lauren del Valle, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump’s felony conviction in the New York hush money case should not be tossed out because of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, Judge Juan Merchan ruled Monday. Merchan’s decision rejected one of several avenues that Trump’s lawyers have taken to

By Betsy Klein, CNN Washington (CNN) — Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is making an all-out push in the waning days of the Biden administration that she believes could bolster reproductive rights, calling on the president to certify the Equal Rights Amendment and enshrine its protections into the Constitution. The move, the New York Democrat wrote

CNN By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump, in his first news conference since his victory, downplayed concerns that his administration would revoke the polio vaccine’s authorization, suggested he could pardon New York City Mayor Eric Adams and said he will press Ukraine and Russia to end their war. The president-elect on Monday

By Steve Contorno and Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat, is a top contender to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Donald Trump’s administration, two people with knowledge of the president-elect’s consideration told CNN. Another person close to the Trump transition team confirmed Moskowitz is in the mix. It

By Daniel Dale, CNN Washington (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump made numerous false claims in a Monday news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Trump also offered a noncommittal reply when he was asked if he believes there is a connection between vaccines and autism, saying that “right now, you have some very brilliant

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The family of an American woman killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank said they left a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken frustrated and with little hope anyone would be held accountable for her death. “Nothing left us optimistic about justice for my sister moving forward,”

By Natasha Bertrand and Avery Schmitz, CNN (CNN) — Russia has begun withdrawing a large amount of military equipment and troops from Syria following the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, according to two US officials and a western official familiar with the intelligence. The officials characterized the Russian withdrawal as large-scale and significant

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump, in his first news conference since his victory, downplayed concerns that his administration would revoke the polio vaccine’s authorization, suggested he could pardon New York City Mayor Eric Adams and said he will press Ukraine and Russia to end their war. The president-elect on Monday took

By Tierney Sneed, CNN Washington (CNN) — A federal appeals court judge has withdrawn his intention to retire, depriving President-elect Donald Trump of the ability to make an influential circuit court nomination and enraging Senate Republicans. Fourth Circuit Judge James Wynn, an appointee of President Barack Obama, told the White House late last week that

By Gregory Krieg and Gloria Pazmino, CNN (CNN) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams was dealt a pair of dire political blows on Monday, even as a potential legal lifeline emerged when President-elect Donald Trump said he would consider pardoning Adams if the mayor was convicted in his coming federal corruption trial. Trump, during

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to wade into Peter Navarro’s yearslong battle with the government over presidential records, brushing aside an appeal from President-elect Donald Trump’s former trade adviser without hearing from the Biden administration in the case. The National Archives and Records Administration has demanded Navarro turn

By John Fritze and Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up an appeal from conservative states challenging California’s ability to establish strict vehicle emission rules that effectively set the standard for the rest of the nation. The move, which effectively leaves in place a lower court ruling that upheld

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court declined Monday to review federal bribery charges against former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, a Democrat who resigned two years ago after prosecutors said he sought campaign contributions in exchange for a state grant. Benjamin, a former state lawmaker, told the high court that prosecutors

By Kate Sullivan and Kayla Tausche, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son announced Monday morning at Mar-a-Lago that the company is expected to invest $100 billion in US projects over the next four years with a goal of creating 100,000 new jobs, according to two people familiar with the

By Curt Devine, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to do everything in his power to benefit American workers. “We will build American, buy American and hire American,” he said during a rally in August. Despite that pledge, Trump’s own businesses sought to hire more foreign guest workers this year

By Jack Forrest, CNN (CNN) — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, promised to release the woman who accused him of sexual assault from a confidentiality agreement. Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Hegseth “told me he would release her from that agreement,”

By Jack Forrest, CNN (CNN) — Lawmakers from across the political spectrum on Sunday criticized the federal government’s response to mysterious drone sightings in the Northeast, as officials emphasize there is no evidence of a security threat. The criticism comes a day after the federal agencies leading the response held a news briefing that left