Politics

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN Aqaba, Jordan (CNN) — The United States has had direct contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Syrian rebel group now in de-facto control of the country, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday. The first public confirmation of direct interaction with the US-designated terrorist group, known as HTS, came at the

By Fredreka Schouten, David Wright and Alex Leeds Matthews, CNN (CNN) — Nearly three dozen of President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to serve in his incoming administration donated to his campaign or to the deep-pocketed outside groups that worked to elect him, a CNN analysis of federal campaign records shows. They range from tech multibillionaire Elon

By Kate Sullivan, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump said Friday the Republican Party would try to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, calling it “inconvenient” and “costly.” “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very

By Marshall Cohen, CNN Washington (CNN) — Victims of major public corruption cases in Pennsylvania and Illinois are angry that President Joe Biden granted clemency this week to two convicted officials. The commutations were announced Thursday as part of a historic clemency package for 1,500 convicted criminals who, the White House said, “deserve a second

By Associated Press (CNN) — Texas has sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, launching one of the first challenges in the US to shield laws that Democrat-controlled states passed to protect physicians after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit on

CNN Editorial Research (CNN) — Here’s a selected list of White House intrusions and security breaches. Facts The White House grounds include 18 acres of land. It is part of President’s Park, a national park. The Secret Service is in charge of White House security. According to the White House Historical Society, US President Thomas

By Evan Perez and Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — When President Donald Trump was searching for a new FBI Director after firing James Comey in 2017, he wanted among other things someone who looked the part of America’s top law enforcement official. Christopher Wray, a 50-year-old Yale-trained lawyer, was at the top of the list

By John Fritze and Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether religious affiliated entities like Catholic Charities should be exempt from state unemployment taxes, taking up its first major religion case in more than a year. The Catholic Charities Bureau in Wisconsin told the high court that the state’s

WABC, CNN By Melanie Hicken, Blake Ellis and Pamela Brown, CNN (CNN) — The former leader of the US Coast Guard who withheld from Congress the explosive findings of an investigation that documented years of sexual assaults at the agency’s prestigious academy said he did so because he worried lawmakers wouldn’t protect the privacy of

By Annie Grayer and Lauren Fox, CNN (CNN) — Rep. Nancy Pelosi underwent a “successful” hip replacement surgery Saturday and is “well on the mend,” according to a spokesperson, one day after being hospitalized from an injury sustained during an official engagement in Luxembourg. Pelosi was admitted to a hospital in Luxembourg as the result

By Melanie Hicken, Blake Ellis and Pamela Brown, CNN (CNN) — The former leader of the US Coast Guard who withheld from Congress the explosive findings of an investigation that documented years of sexual assaults at the agency’s prestigious academy said he did so because he worried lawmakers wouldn’t protect the privacy of the victims.

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN Baghdad (CNN) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq Friday to meet with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as the international community grapples with the implications of the Syrian government’s collapse. Blinken met with Sudani for more than an hour in Baghdad — the latest

CNN By Katelyn Polantz, Paula Reid and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged to pardon US Capitol rioters on Day One, but one month before Inauguration Day it’s not clear who among the hundreds of convicted rioters, defendants awaiting trial and remaining fugitives would receive clemency. Trump advisers are still

By Katelyn Polantz, Paula Reid and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged to pardon US Capitol rioters on Day One, but one month before Inauguration Day it’s not clear who among the hundreds of convicted rioters, defendants awaiting trial and remaining fugitives would receive clemency. Trump advisers are still solidifying

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Nevada prosecutors have refiled criminal charges against the six Republican “fake electors” who tried to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat in that state. The retooled charges were announced Thursday by Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat. His original case, filed last year, was thrown out by a Las

By Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene, Kate Sullivan and Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump, eager to turn his inauguration into a global event, is personally extending invitations to some foreign leaders, including heads of state that have clashed with the United States in the recent past. Already, Trump has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping

By Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Ed Martin, a hardline, socially conservative activist and commentator, to serve as the next chief of staff at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As CNN first reported in July, Martin has publicly advocated for a national abortion ban without

By Jennifer Hansler and Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The Biden administration is working to surge deliveries of weapons to Ukraine in its final days in office in a concerted effort to put Kyiv on a strong footing going into 2025, according to a senior administration official. The push is in stark contrast to that