Politics

By Manu Raju and Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — House Democrats are actively preparing for political trench warfare against the GOP in next year’s midterm battle, with talks taking shape behind the scenes to mount a counterattack against President Donald Trump’s power play in Texas that aims to cement GOP control of Washington for the

By Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Friday threatened to refer Obama administration officials to the Justice Department for prosecution over the intelligence assessment of Russia’s 2016 election interference, in the latest example of officials going after perceived enemies of President Donald Trump. Gabbard declassified documents Friday that she

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN Washington (CNN) — It is one of the most evocative works from the American Civil War: a sculpture of a Black man who had escaped from slavery helping an injured White Union soldier lost in hostile territory. When it was unveiled in 1864, John Rogers’ “The Wounded Scout, a Friend

By Fredreka Schouten and Eva McKend, CNN (CNN) — Becoming a federal prosecutor was a longtime professional dream for Erika Evans, one she achieved nearly four years ago. But Evans soured on her job as an assistant US attorney in Seattle this year soon after President Donald Trump returned to the White House. She cites

By Jon Sarlin, CNN (CNN) — After the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday night on a 2003 letter to Jeffrey Epstein that included Donald Trump’s name and an outline of a naked woman, the president’s denial was comprehensive. “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” he told the

CNN By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration’s chaotic handling of the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files continued Friday as the Justice Department asked a federal judge to make public years-old grand jury testimony made behind closed doors against the convicted sex offender. In its filing, the department justified releasing the heretofore secret evidence

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — The State Department had more than a dozen meetings with the White House – including Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff – and other agencies to discuss the topic of student visas, a top department official said in federal court on Friday. The White

By Kristen Holmes, Kylie Atwood, Priscilla Alvarez and Michael Rios, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration completed a large-scale prisoner swap with Venezuela on Friday, sending about 250 Venezuelans who had been deported and imprisoned in El Salvador back to their home country in exchange for 10 US nationals, officials said. Secretary of State Marco

By Devan Cole, CNN Boston (CNN) — A federal judge who previously blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship spent more than an hour Friday grappling with whether his nationwide injunction could stand after the Supreme Court curbed the ability of judges to issue such broad rulings. US District Judge Leo Sorokin of

By Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — Steve Bannon joined a growing chorus of MAGA influencers coalescing behind President Donald Trump in the wake of the Wall Street Journal report about a ribald birthday letter bearing Trump’s name that was sent to Jeffrey Epstein, telling CNN Friday that he believed the story had united a base

By Donald Judd, Shania Shelton and Paula Reid, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to unseal pertinent testimony related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, as he appeared to bow to pressure to release more material on the case. “Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey

By Marshall Cohen, Fredreka Schouten, Tami Luhby, Jackie Wattles and Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which he signed into law this month, includes major wins for business interests that carried out aggressive lobbying campaigns on Capitol Hill to secure favorable treatment for their industries. The roughly 900-page law is

By Edward Wu, CNN (CNN) — Americans are increasingly skeptical of Israeli actions in Gaza, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS that also finds rising sentiment that the US should pull back on military aid to Israel. Only 23% of Americans say Israel’s actions have been fully justified, a 27-point drop from

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Affordable Care Act insurers are proposing their steepest premium increases since 2018, driven in part by the looming expiration of Biden-era enhanced premium subsidies and by the Trump administration’s tariffs, a new KFF analysis has found. Insurers are asking for a typical rate increase of 15% with more than

By Lauren Fox, Morgan Rimmer, Sarah Ferris and Nicky Robertson, CNN (CNN) — House Republicans gave the final stamp of approval early Friday morning to a package of $9 billion in spending cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, handing a win to President Donald Trump. Congress passed the package — which is part of