Politics

By Kate Sullivan, CNN President Joe Biden and the Democrat-led Senate are working quickly to appoint judges from a broad range of backgrounds to the federal bench as they counter Republican efforts to reshape the bench over the previous four years. The push comes after former President Donald Trump, working with then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch

By Erica Orden, CNN Michael Avenatti, the celebrity lawyer who rose to fame as an antagonist of former President Donald Trump, faces opening statements Wednesday in Los Angeles as part of his second federal criminal trial, just two weeks after he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in a separate case in New York.

By Kylie Atwood and Nicole Gaouette, CNN An extraordinary effort by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to block nominees from being confirmed to vital jobs in the State Department is creating hurdles for the Biden administration and hindering US diplomacy, according to Democrats and Republicans who spoke to CNN. The Biden administration — with

By Kate Sullivan, CNN President Joe Biden will participate in a CNN town hall on Wednesday in Cincinnati, Ohio, just over six months after taking office. The town hall comes as the White House grapples with a new surge in Covid-19 cases, which has led to increasing rates of hospitalizations and deaths. The Delta variant, which

By Alex Rogers and Manu Raju, CNN Senate Republicans blocked a vote Wednesday to start debate on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, as they push for more time to strike a deal with Democrats and write the legislation. The vote was 49-51, short of the 60 votes needed to advance the measure. But lawmakers

By Kate Bennett, CNN Jill Biden departs Wednesday morning for a five-day international trip to Tokyo, Japan, her first solo trip abroad as first lady of the United States. However, Biden’s visit to kick-off the Olympic Games in support of America’s athletes comes amid rising Covid-19 numbers in Japan, and specifically at the Games. As

By Kevin Liptak, Phil Mattingly and Jeff Zeleny, CNN Joe Biden’s presidency is only six months old, but the mood inside the White House can often feel like a race against time. “The clock is running. We all know that,” a senior adviser to Biden said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The President certainly knows

By Paul LeBlanc, CNN The illegal foreign lobbying charges brought against Tom Barrack on Tuesday punctuate a winding business and political career defined by his unique staying power in former President Donald Trump’s constantly shifting orbit of advisers. A Southern California businessman and a former chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee, Barrack is charged in a

By Caroline Kelly and Rebekah Riess, CNN US District Judge Kristine G. Baker on Tuesday temporarily blocked an Arkansas ban on nearly all abortions from going into effect while a lawsuit against the measure proceeds, an early victory for abortion rights supporters as many of the restrictions that advanced in states this spring are expected

By Lauren Fox, Melanie Zanona and Manu Raju, CNN Republicans on the House’s new investigative committee are gearing up for a protracted clash with Democrats over former President Donald Trump’s role in the January 6 attack, with the GOP looking to turn the focus into the Capitol’s lack of preparedness, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s actions and

By John Harwood, CNN President Joe Biden soon faces the same decision his most recent Democratic predecessors did: whether to reappoint a Federal Reserve chair put in that job by a Republican. He hasn’t revealed his thinking, and aides say he has not begun the formal process of determining whether to seek a second term

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN A former Drug Enforcement Administration special agent who previously claimed he had been fired for being at the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection is now facing federal charges after prosecutors say he brought his service weapon onto Capitol grounds and lied to the FBI about what he had done

By Annie Grayer, CNN Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is leading a group of Democratic lawmakers in calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to create a special envoy to combat Islamophobia, as instances of anti-Muslim hate crimes continue to rise worldwide. Omar, one of three Muslims serving in Congress, is sending a letter to Blinken

By Jessica Dean and Annie Grayer, CNN As the Delta variant emerges as the dominant strain of Covid across the country, the Capitol attending physician is warning Congress about the variant’s presence on Capitol Hill. “The Delta variant virus has been detected in Washington, DC and in the Capitol buildings,” Capitol Attending Physician Brian Monahan

By Geneva Sands, CNN A key US senator is launching an investigation into the connection between cryptocurrencies and ransomware attacks in the wake of several recent high-profile attacks. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Gary Peters announced Tuesday on CNN’s “New Day” that the bipartisan investigation will seek to better understand how cryptocurrency emboldens