Politics

By Paula Reid and Tierney Sneed, CNN The Justice Department on Tuesday unveiled a grand jury indictment against a Florida man for his alleged role in a scheme to defraud the family of Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz out of $25 million. Stephen Alford, 62, of Fort Walton Beach, faces charges including wire fraud, according

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN A colorful cast of more than 40 candidates from all political persuasions are vying to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in California’s recall election, but only a handful have managed to break through the pack. The candidates have two weeks left to convince voters to boot Newsom out of office and

By Manu Raju, Melanie Zanona and Jeremy Herb, CNN House and Senate Democrats are watching President Joe Biden’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan with unease, distancing themselves with some Americans left behind in the war-torn country and as Republicans plot to make the issue a major focus heading into the 2022 midterms. In the

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN As the war in Afghanistan came to a stark end Monday, the Biden administration now faces questions over the level of risk the US and other Western countries face with the Taliban taking control of the country. During a briefing Monday, press secretary Jen Psaki inaccurately claimed the US has no

By Eric Bradner and Dianne Gallagher, CNN Texas lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would impose new restrictions on voting, sending it to the desk of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — who said in a statement he will sign it into law. Abbott’s signature would add Texas — where Republicans are seeking

By Paul LeBlanc, Alex Marquardt and Josh Replogle, CNN When Mohammed Iqbal Selanee and Josh Rodriguez hugged in Washington, DC, this week, it was an embrace years in the making. As an interpreter for US forces in Afghanistan, Selanee worked alongside Rodriguez when he was deployed to Kunar Province, helping countless US soldiers work with

By Maeve Reston, CNN Larry Elder, the leading GOP candidate vying to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said he doesn’t think it’s necessary for young people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or for children to wear masks at school, and he vowed to repeal any mask or vaccine mandates for California’s state workers if he

By Katie Lobosco, CNN Social Security will have to cut benefits by 2034 if Congress does nothing to address the program’s long-term funding shortfall, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Social Security and Medicare trustees. That’s one year earlier than reported last year. By that time, the combined trust funds for Social

By Clare Foran and Ali Zaslav, CNN The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would provide temporary assistance to American citizens who have returned from Afghanistan. The bill would set aside up to $10 million for each fiscal year during fiscal years 2021 and 2022 to provide emergency repatriation assistance to affected individuals. Vice

By Barbara Starr and Brianna Keilar, CNN The US military negotiated a secret arrangement with the Taliban that resulted in members of the militant group escorting clusters of Americans to the gates of the Kabul airport as they sought to escape Afghanistan, two defense officials told CNN. One of the officials also revealed that US

By Ali Zaslav, CNN Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is expanding his efforts to convince more Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19 with a new public service announcement available for TV stations to air nationwide. The ad aims to target vaccine hesitant Republicans and pushes back against skepticism about the shot promoted by many members

By Tierney Sneed, CNN A Texas state law that bans abortion after as early as six weeks into the pregnancy could provide the playbook for red states to pass extreme abortion restrictions — without having to wait for the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v. Wade. The measure — signed into law by Republican Gov.

By Devan Cole, CNN Republican Congressman and US military veteran Adam Kinzinger on Monday reflected on the closing of America’s longest war, saying that while he’s relieved, Afghanistan now being under Taliban control has left him with mixed emotions. “At the one hand, it’s great relief that we got those thousands of military members out

By Paul LeBlanc and Daniel Dale, CNN Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn on Sunday suggested there could be “bloodshed” over future elections as he pushed false claims about election security and voter fraud. Speaking at a North Carolina county GOP event, Cawthorn repeated the lie about US election systems being “rigged” and “stolen,” something he said