Politics

By Tierney Sneed, CNN The Justice Department on Thursday urged an appeals court to reject sweeping claims of presidential immunity put forward by former President Donald Trump in the civil litigation surrounding the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol. The department told the appeals court — which is considering several private lawsuits brought

By Steve Contorno, CNN Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday distanced himself from his past support for privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age as potential future political foes seize on his previous ideas for the popular retirement program. “We’re not going to mess with Social Security as Republicans,” DeSantis told Fox News. “I

By Ella Nilsen, CNN With just days to go until the Biden administration is set to a release a decision on the first major oil drilling project of its tenure, the White House has indicated it may reduce the scope of the controversial project that has drawn fierce criticism from climate advocates. The Willow Project,

By Sam Fossum, CNN The Biden administration has sanctioned eight Mexican companies it says are involved in a timeshare fraud scheme benefiting the Jalisco cartel, a notorious drug organization that the US government says traffics a “significant proportion” of the illegal fentanyl and other drugs that enter the US. According to the US Treasury, who

By Arlette Saenz First lady Dr. Jill Biden offered a window into her marriage with President Joe Biden, telling CNN in an interview that she maintains a “good balance” in the types of insight and advice she offers her husband. “Certainly I tell him stories, and I have things that I’ve seen and things that

By Michelle Watson, Karl de Vries and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN A Michigan man allegedly threatened on social media to kill Jewish members of the Michigan government, the FBI said, and state Attorney General Dana Nessel says she was among those targeted. The incident adds to recent concerns about threats against public officials as well as

By Daniel Dale, CNN A viral video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky takes his remarks out of context to wrongly make it sound like he demanded that Americans send their sons and daughters to fight in the war in Ukraine. The out-of-context 19-second video has been viewed millions of times on Twitter. It features a

By Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood, CNN US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday for the first time since the war in Ukraine began more than a year ago. The brief contact on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in New Delhi marks a significant

By Kate Sullivan, Veronica Stracqualursi and Kristen Holmes, CNN Two dueling high-profile Republican gatherings this week — one featuring former President Donald Trump and the other Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — showcase the deepening divide within the GOP as it barrels toward its 2024 nominating process. Trump is scheduled to headline the Conservative Political Action

By Shawna Mizelle and Dave Alsup, CNN Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill into law Thursday afternoon that will restrict public drag show performances in Tennessee, making his state the first to do so this year. The state Senate passed the bill earlier Thursday along party lines to limit “adult cabaret performances” on public

By Fredreka Schouten, Gregory Krieg and Kara Scannell, CNN More than a week after embattled Rep. George Santos named his new campaign treasurer, questions persist over the identity of the person who has filled that role and the campaign’s filings with federal regulators. Andrew Olson, listed as treasurer of Santos’ federal political committees on February

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN The White House on Thursday released an ambitious national cybersecurity strategy that calls for new federal regulation of vulnerable critical infrastructure firms and for software makers to be held liable when their products leave gaping holes for hackers to exploit. The strategy — shaped by major hacking incidents that threatened key

By Michael Callahan, Brad Lendon and Eric Cheung, CNN The Biden administration has approved an estimated $619 million potential arms sale to Taiwan, including hundreds of missiles for F-16 fighter jets, in a move that will likely further inflame already heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing. The administration formally notified Congress on Wednesday of the

By Casey Gannon, CNN Two men were sentenced Wednesday to two years of probation after being convicted of bringing guns to a Philadelphia vote counting center while 2020 presidential votes were being tallied. Antonio LaMotta, 63, and Joshua Macias, 44, both of Virginia, were found guilty in October of two counts each of Violations of

By Phil Mattingly and Allie Malloy, CNN President Joe Biden on Wednesday raised clear concern that the Supreme Court may decide to strike down his student debt cancellation program, one day after several conservative justices expressed skepticism about the administration’s authority. “I’m confident we’re on the right side of the law,” Biden told CNN when

By Eric Bradner, CNN Lori Lightfoot rode into the Chicago mayor’s office in 2019 as a reform candidate, offering a break from the city’s clubby political scene while making history as the first Black woman and first out gay person to hold the office as she won all 50 wards. Four years later, the Second