Politics

By Kristen Holmes and Kate Sullivan, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has replaced his pick to serve as the top lawyer in his White House, in an abrupt move that signals how quickly fortunes can shift in Trump’s orbit as a result of internal division. Trump announced Wednesday that he had chosen his campaign’s

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, was defiant Wednesday in the face of doubts that he can win confirmation as he met with Republican lawmakers and sought to address concerns about a series of misconduct allegations. Hegseth vowed to “fight like hell” to win confirmation — and

By Arlette Saenz, Sam Fossum and Vasco Cotovio, CNN Luanda, Angola (CNN) — President Joe Biden grinned as he posed for photos with the leader of Angola before departing the country Wednesday, capping off an historic trip that was overshadowed by controversy stemming from Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter and unexpected turmoil from

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — UK and US authorities on Wednesday announced a major crackdown on a pair of billion-dollar money laundering rings that officials say has cleaned money for Russia’s elite, cybercriminals and drug-runners around the world. The US Treasury Department sanctioned alleged senior members of one of the money-laundering rings, while the

By Ethan Cohen, Jack Forrest and Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Republican Rep. John Duarte has conceded to his Democratic challenger Adam Gray in California’s 13th Congressional District, Duarte campaign spokesman Duane Dichiara confirmed to CNN. The five counties in the district certified their results Tuesday, leaving Gray with a 187-vote lead. The contest was

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk’s promise to severely slash government spending has found glimmers of support from some unlikely allies: Democrats. Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz joined a Republican-led congressional caucus supporting President-elect Donald Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, co-led by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna

By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-chair of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency alongside billionaire Elon Musk, has a lengthy history of attacking his partner’s ties to China, frequently referring to Musk as a “circus monkey” and a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party. Ramaswamy’s critiques, reviewed by CNN’s KFile, include

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The federal judge who oversaw Hunter Biden’s tax case blasted President Joe Biden for trying to “rewrite history” in his justification for pardoning his son. District Judge Mark Scarsi wrote in a five-page order Tuesday that some of the “representations contained” in the president’s Sunday statement announcing the pardon

By Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox, Manu Raju and Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth to run the Defense Department is in jeopardy amid questions from some key GOP senators over whether he’s fit for the job. The pressure is forcing the president-elect’s team to maneuver behind the scenes to avoid

CNN By Em Steck and Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — As protests broke out across American cities in June 2020, Pete Hegseth, co-host of the weekend “Fox & Friends” show, joined an on-air panel to discuss the situation in Seattle, where protestors had created a self-declared autonomous zone around a few blocks near downtown. Hegseth,

By Kristen Holmes, Evan Perez and Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the FBI, was recently informed by the bureau that he had been targeted as part of an Iranian hack, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Hackers are believed to have accessed at least some

By Michael Williams, CNN Washington (CNN) — Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are suggesting the country stop its biannual ritual of falling back and springing forward – advocating a permanent end to time changes in a move that has garnered broad support in the past. In a series of posts on X last week, both

By Alejandra Jaramillo, Jack Forrest and Kate Sullivan, CNN (CNN) — Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff, has withdrawn from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, he announced Tuesday. “Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully

By Lauren Fox and Danya Gainor, CNN (CNN) — Senate Democrats staged dramatic showdowns to protest nominations during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office. This time around, Democrats are shifting tactics, reluctant to pick endless battles with Trump Cabinet picks that are unlikely to succeed. It’s a careful tightrope for a party that is

By Paula Reid, CNN (CNN) — Defense lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump are using President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter to argue that Trump’s conviction in his Manhattan hush money case should be dismissed. “Yesterday in issuing a 10 year pardon to Hunter Biden that covers any and all crimes whether charged or

By Em Steck and Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — As protests broke out across American cities in June 2020, Pete Hegseth, co-host of the weekend “Fox & Friends” show, joined an on-air panel to discuss the situation in Seattle, where protestors had created a self-declared autonomous zone around a few blocks near downtown. Hegseth, speaking

By Alejandra Jaramillo, Holmes Lybrand, Kaitlan Collins and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump’s transition team has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Justice Department, paving the way for the team to seek FBI background checks on the president-elect’s appointees. The agreement, announced by the Trump team on Tuesday, outlines the terms of

KEYE, KSTU, SPECTRUM-NEWS-AUSTIN, WLKY, WTVF, CNN By Devan Cole, Paula Reid and John Fritze, CNN Washington (CNN) — The Supreme Court will dive headfirst into the politically fraught issue of transgender rights on Wednesday when it hears a challenge to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors in the highest-profile case of the fall. Attorneys