Politics

By Kara Scannell, CNN A New York judge has given Steve Bannon until the end of February to find new lawyers to advise him in a criminal fraud case after the former Donald Trump aide’s attorney said there were “irreconcilable differences” and communications have broken down. Bannon attorney David Schoen said in court Thursday that

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN Attorney General Merrick Garland and Steve Dettelbach, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), announced new regulations Friday that would subject pistol-stabilizing braces to additional regulations, including higher taxes, longer waiting periods and registration. Gun control proponents argue that stabilizing braces — which can be attached

By Clare Foran, CNN House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has invited President Joe Biden to deliver the annual State of the Union address to Congress on February 7, and the White House said Biden has accepted the invitation. “It is my solemn obligation to invite you to speak before a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday,

By Nikki Carvajal and Tami Luhby, CNN The Treasury Department said Friday the US could default on its debt as soon as June, setting up one of the first major battles on Capitol Hill after Republicans took control of the House. The US will reach the debt limit on January 19 and then “extraordinary measures”

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN Lawmakers in the Missouri House of Representatives this week adopted a stricter dress code for women as part of a new rules package, and now requires them to cover their shoulders by wearing a jacket like a blazer, cardigan or knit blazer. The addition, which was proposed by Republican state Rep.

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN The US State Department’s top official for hostage and detainee issues quietly traveled to Venezuela last month as efforts to bring home Americans wrongfully detained there continue. Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, visited the Venezuelan capital of Caracas shortly before Christmas, a US official and family members

By Oren Liebermann, CNN A US carrier strike group began operating in the South China Sea on Thursday, the Navy announced, amid heightened tensions with Beijing, which claims much of the body of water as its sovereign territory. Two Chinese ships are already tailing the US group, a defense official told CNN, which consists of

By Gabby Orr, CNN In the two months since Donald Trump launched his third presidential campaign, potential rivals have been casting doubt over his inevitability as the GOP nominee — whispering from the sidelines that he has lost his touch, that there are cracks in his base, that his strange absence from the campaign trail

By Katelyn Polantz and Kaitlan Collins, CNN The Justice Department is seeking to question two people who searched Donald Trump’s properties in November, as federal investigators have asked whether the former president returned all classified documents to the federal government, sources familiar with the probe tell CNN. The development is the latest sign that the

By Kara Scannell and Nicki Brown, CNN The Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million — the maximum possible penalty — by a New York judge Friday for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme, a symbolic moment because it is the only judgment for a criminal conviction that has come close to former President Donald Trump.

By Tami Luhby, CNN Those who want Affordable Care Act coverage for 2023 have only a few days left to sign up. Open enrollment ends Sunday on the federal exchange and most state-based marketplaces. A few states that run their own exchanges, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island, as well as

By Kylie Atwood, CNN The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday requested from the State Department a vast number of documents related to the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, marking the official launch of the newly Republican-led panel’s investigation into the chaotic exit. Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the

By Sonnet Swire, CNN A bipartisan duo of House lawmakers reintroduced legislation to ban members of Congress from trading stocks while in office, renewing last year’s push that captured headlines but fell short of a floor vote. Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas reintroduced the TRUST in Congress

By Kevin Liptak, Phil Mattingly, Jeff Zeleny and Arlette Saenz, CNN The early days of 2017 were a whirlwind for Vice President Joe Biden: swearing in a new Congress, a surprise Medal of Freedom, a speech at Davos and one final trip to Ukraine. Partly to wrap up his policy portfolios, partly to tout his

By Sonnet Swire, CNN Former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that he believes he “had too much power” when he wielded the gavel. “I think I had too much power as speaker,” Ryan told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead,” adding that what bothered him “most” were omnibus bills — massive spending packages