Politics

By Evan Perez, Zachary Cohen, Holmes Lybrand and Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for at least some of his Cabinet picks while using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates for administration jobs, people close to the transition planning say. Trump and his allies

By Casey Tolan, Scott Glover and Kyung Lah, CNN Monterey, California (CNN) — Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, was involved in a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault in 2017, local officials in California confirmed Thursday night. In a statement, a spokesperson for the city government of Monterey, California, said

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to serve as his next secretary of the Department of the Interior. Trump revealed his pick during a gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort Thursday evening, seemingly changing his mind in real time on when to make the announcement as

CNN By Alexandra Banner, CNN (CNN) — Look up at the night sky this weekend for a celestial double feature. November’s full moon will shine bright today as the last supermoon of the year. Sky-gazers may also be able to see the Leonid meteor shower as it reaches its peak on Saturday night into early

CNN By David Culver and Rachel Clarke, CNN (CNN) — As he stood inside the echoing hall of the prison, Matt Gaetz seemed impressed. “There’s a lot more discipline in this prison than we see in a lot of the prisons in the United States,” said Gaetz, then a congressman, now announced as President-elect Donald

By Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has announced former congressman Doug Collins as his pick to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. “We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure

By Tierney Sneed and Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is turning to his personal criminal defense team to fill out top roles at the US Justice Department in his second term. Trump on Thursday announced that Todd Blanche is his pick for deputy attorney general and Emil Bove, another member of his

By Kevin Liptak and Kayla Tausche, CNN Lima, Peru (CNN) — When President Joe Biden’s aides were planning his visit to South America this week for a pair of leaders’ summits, two vastly different scenarios were in play. In one, Biden arrived as the confident statesman burnishing a legacy and preparing to hand off to

By Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — The Pentagon has received hundreds of reports of new UFO sightings, including “several particularly interesting cases,” according to the director of the office that investigates these reports, but reiterated it found no evidence of alien activity. The Pentagon, working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)

CNN By Alexandra Banner, CNN (CNN) — Look up at the night sky this weekend for a celestial double feature. November’s full moon will shine bright today as the last supermoon of the year. Sky-gazers may also be able to see the Leonid meteor shower as it reaches its peak on Saturday night into early

By David Culver and Rachel Clarke, CNN (CNN) — As he stood inside the echoing hall of the prison, Matt Gaetz seemed impressed. “There’s a lot more discipline in this prison than we see in a lot of the prisons in the United States,” said Gaetz, then a congressman, now announced as President-elect Donald Trump’s

CNN Editorial Research (CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of former Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr. Personal Birth date: November 28, 1937 Birth place: Weehawken, New Jersey Birth name: Wilbur Louis Ross Jr. Father: Wilbur Louis Ross Sr., a lawyer Mother: Agnes (O’Neill) Ross, a teacher Marriages: Hilary (Geary) Ross (October 9,

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — The FBI announced on Thursday the arrest of a Texas man who allegedly created and disseminated ISIS propaganda and wanted to commit a “9/11-style” attack in the United States. The man, Anas Said, was arrested last week outside of his apartment in Houston, Texas. His arraignment and detention hearing

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN Washington (CNN) — Nearly 90 congressional Democrats are calling on President Joe Biden to impose sanctions on two far-right Israeli government officials for their roles in inciting settler violence in the West Bank. “Violent settlers, fueled by the inflammatory rhetoric and incitement to violence by members of the Israeli cabinet, including

By Tami Luhby, Tierney Sneed and Rene Marsh, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk have big ambitions for making the federal government leaner and more efficient by reviewing its budget and operations from top to bottom. Musk, the world’s richest person who owns or runs several companies, has warned that his goals

By Eric Bradner, Kayla Tausche and Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — In the days after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, allies described his transition effort as far more disciplined than his first post-victory period in 2016. Then, a 24-hour stretch — that started with Trump’s selection of Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary on